Hewitt and Federer Reach Final

Lleyton Hewitt, whose eardrum-pounding yelps of “Come on!” punctuate his ferocious assaults on tennis balls and mad dashes across the court, has become the comeback guy of his sport.

Although he has no chance to come back to the No. 1 ranking he held in 2001 and 2002 -- that belongs to Roger Federer -- by beating Federer today, Hewitt could reclaim the season-ending ATP Masters Cup title that was his in those years. The Australian would also hurdle Andy Roddick, whom he dismantled, 6-3, 6-2, Saturday, and finish as No. 2

After a rain-plagued week of round-robin play, the world’s top four ranked players -- Federer, Roddick, Hewitt and Marat Safin -- advanced to the semifinals, each coveting the 34-year-old Masters crown and bragging rights as the last man standing in 2004.

Hewitt and Federer were the winners Saturday, and both their victories concluded with extraordinary passages. Hewitt crunched a strangely inept Roddick by running the last 20 points. Federer, of Switzerland, hung on through six set points in a record tiebreaker to overcome Safin, the 6-foot-4 Russian, 6-3, 7-6 (18).

While that 38-point overtime, tied 18 times, tied viewers in knots -- Safin finally tumbling after dodging seven match points -- the descent of Roddick, the lone American in the tournament, seemed painful to the silenced audience.

“I just fell short ... lost my rhythm,” Roddick said.

You could say that. Incredibly, from a 2-1 lead in the second set, he lost the last 20 points. Such a collapse to defeat has probably happened before, but to the No. 2 player in the world in an important engagement?

Hewitt needed only 58 minutes to win, outplaying Roddick in every phase to gain a rematch of the U.S. Open final he lost to Federer.

Although Hewitt was 2-1 in his round-robin group (losing to Federer, 6-3, 6-4) and Roddick 3-0 in his, the Aussie was fired up and overwhelmingly ready to go, permitting Roddick zero break points while beating him for the fourth time in five meetings.

Hewitt thought he broke Roddick’s spirit with his sharpshooting -- 13 winners to the American’s eight -- and control, committing six errors to the loser’s 25.

Roddick had been serving and volleying well all week, looking improved in that department. “But I stoned them today,” he said. “It was the worst I ever volleyed. But the way I played in the first three matches lets me leave here positively, and excited about the Davis Cup final in Spain” Dec. 3-5.

Roddick’s nine aces lifted him to 1,017 for the season. As the third player to break 1,000, he was well short of the record 1,477 posted in 1996 by Goran Ivanisevic (who had three other 1,000-plus years) but ahead of Pete Sampras’ 1,011 in 1993.

Federer’s brilliant shot-making and Safin’s nearly as brilliant resistance made for a scintillating 1 hour 48 minutes as the reinvigorated Russian came oh-so-close to pushing the champ into a decisive third set.

“I was happy to be part of it,” Federer said. “We were pushing each other to the limits.”

“It was fun and I was nervous too. Maybe I rushed a little,” said Safin, who finished 2003 at No. 77 and said it feels “great to come back to No. 4.”