Former Olympic bronze medallist Wayne Ferreira captured his 15th career singles title, upsetting Australian Lleyton Hewitt 6-3, 4-6, 7-5 in Sunday’s final of the $380 000 Los Angeles Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) event.
The 31-year-old South African blasted 19 aces in defeating the tournament’s top seed and 2002 Wimbledon champ. He picked up $52 000 dollars in first-place prize money.
”I am over the moon,” said Ferreira, whose last tournament title came via a victory over then 19-year-old Hewitt indoors in Stuttgart in 2000.
”I played great tennis. I knew I would have to work extremely hard to overpower him.”
Ferreira survived three match points in the 10th game of the third set before closing it out with an ace two games later in front of about 3 000 fans.
Ferreira was the oldest player in the draw, but he didn’t look like it this week.
He is the first South African to win the tournament, joining past champions Andre Agassi, Pete Sampras, Boris Becker, Stefan Edberg and Rod Laver.
”There is not a bad player on that list, and to be up on that winners’ board is a real privilege,” he said.
Ferreira jack hammered his way through the more difficult side of the draw before facing Hewitt. He beat No. 2 seed Sebastien Grosjean of France in the quarter-finals before knocking off hard-serving fifth seed Mark Philippoussis in the semis.
Ferreira broke Hewitt in the eighth game of the first set and the 11th game of the second but it was the three match points he staved off in the third set that propelled him to victory.
”He was just too good on the big points, especially on his service games,” said Hewitt, who was playing in his first tournament since his shocking first-round loss at Wimbledon to Croatian qualifier Ivo Karlovic.
”He was cracking everything and I should have taken my chances on the match points.”
Ferreira won the bronze medal at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics becoming the first South African to win an Olympic medal in 32 years.
Ferreira, who turned pro in 1989, has a 22-12 record this year, reaching the semi-finals of the Australian Open in January. Ferreira was playing with a nagging groin injury that almost ended his 2003 season prematurely. It caused him to go down at the French Open last month during a third round game against Rainer Schuettler, when he had to be carried off the court in a stretcher.
He played just one match at Wimbledon before coming to Los Angeles and has been receiving treatment for his injuries throughout this week. Ferreira reinjured the groin on Monday in a doubles match against Hewitt and said he almost packed it in on Tuesday because of the pain.
”I shouldn’t have been playing and now I am winning tournaments,” said Ferreira. ”It was one of those weird weeks that I can’t explain.”
Hewitt said he also had his doubts about Ferreira being able to continue after Monday’s doubles.
”He surprised me the whole week,” said Hewitt. ”I played him in doubles and he was really struggling.
”If you had asked me then if he would last five singles matches, I would have told you no way.”
But Ferreira did, and now plans to celebrate this win by flying home to San Francisco for a quick family dinner.
”I will go have dinner with my wife for an hour then fly to Montreal for the next tournament,” he said.
Hewitt won back-to-back singles crowns in Scottsdale, Arizona, and Indian Wells, California, in March. Since being named Australia’s male athlete of the year that same month, Hewitt has posted a modest 12-6 won/loss record on the tour. He struggled with inconsistency all week in Los Angeles but said overall he was pleased.
”It has been a positive week,” Hewitt said. ”This was a stepping stone. I came here to get match practice and I had five matches.” – Sapa-AFP