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Hoodoo of Hewitt strikes Henman

Paul Short
Sunday 22 February 2004 01:00 GMT
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Tim Henman suffered an afternoon after the night before here, following up his stirring victory over world No 1 Roger Federer on Friday with a straight-sets defeat by his nemesis, Lleyton Hewitt in the semi-final of the ABN Amro World Tennis Tournament. Henman who was beaten 6-3 6-3 has now lost all his seven matches against Hewitt.

The British No 1 broke his Australian opponent in the second set, but otherwise Hewitt was in control throughout. "I missed shots that I would normally make," Henman said. "I knew that Lleyton was quick. I think I simply tried too hard. I was overly aggressive, and made too many mistakes as a result. In the end, I forgot to win points."

Henman was quick to pay tribute to his opponent, adding: "Lleyton produced a few stunning passing shots. I really wouldn't know anyone on the tour who hits them better than he does. And I made for an ideal target at the net, of course."

Henman had reached the semi-final with an impressive straight-sets win over world No 1 Roger Federer on Friday night and, despite his defeat, he was not unhappy about his progress. "I serve better than I did nine months ago, when I regularly lost several games during a match," he said. "These days I lose a single service game at most. Which creates a solid basis from which to improve my game. If you play well, the results will come of their own accord. Unfortunately it wasn't enough against Lleyton, who found a solution to everything I tried."

After beating Federer, Henman should have arrived on court yesterday with plenty of confidence. Instead, he found himself on the back foot after struggling in the first set against an opponent who had made it into the last four on the back of a 7-6 6-3 win over Rainer Schuettler.

Henman - seeded fifth here, one place ahead of his opponent - hit back in the first game of the second set, breaking Hewitt, and he then saved two break points against his own serve to take a 2-0 lead as he attempted to reach his fourth final at this event.

But Hewitt won his next service game and piled the pressure back on Henman by breaking back with a double-handed cross-court drive and a triumphant yell, levelling the score at 2-2. The initiative had swung back to the Australian, who broke again to lead 5-3 before wrapping up the match when a Henman forehand drifted long in the next game.

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