Australia's Lleyton Hewitt stormed to his first Grand Slam victory with a comprehensive 7-6 6-1 6-1 win over Pete Sampras in the US Open final at Flushing Meadows on Sunday. The 20-year-old fourth seed won his first Grand Slam title surprisingly easily to continue the 14-month title drought for Sampras. Hewitt took the first set on a tie-break, winning four of the last five points. Three of these were due to Sampras errors, the last of them a backhand volley beyond the baseline.
Hewitt dominated the second set, hitting 15 winners with only one unforced error. Sampras fought off two break points with an ace and a service winner to hold in the second game of the second set, but the Aussie responded with a series of tough backhand service returns. He forced two netted backhand volleys by Sampras to surrender a break in the fourth game.
Sampras was a dispirited man by the third set. Hewitt broke him in the first game with a cross-court backhand winner, and it was all downhill from there. After making just two unforced errors in the final set, Hewitt ended it on his second match point with a backhand cross-court winner after just one hour and 54 minutes. The Australian, who is the youngest US Open champion since Sampras's victory eleven years ago, celebrated his by falling back on court, kicking his legs in the air.
Filed by Shane Murray
