Top five biggest upsets on the ATP tour in 2010 – Part one
Bettor.com takes a look at the top five biggest upsets of the season on the ATP tour in 2010.
1. Yen Hsun Lu overpowered Andy Roddick; Wimbledon fourth round
Prior to the match, it looked it would be a straight forward win for the 3-time grass court Grand Slam finalist, Roddick as he met Yen Hsun Lu in the round four at All England Club. Yen had triumphed in back-to-back clashes on grass just once before, at
The Queen’s Club back in 2004, and he had also lost all three of his past encounters with the Texas resident.
In an outstanding display from the then 26-year-old, Yen blasted a total of eighty three winners and broke his opponent’s serve on just a single occasion in the match during the final game to clinch the dramatic win. After the victory, Lu dedicated the victory
to his father who died back in 2000. The final match score was 4-6, 7-6(3), 7-6(4), 6-7(5), 9-7.
The manner of loss for the American, on the other hand, brought harsh memories for Roddick of his heart-breaking defeat at the hands of Swiss tennis maestro, Roger Federer in the title battle last year, when the Basel native had at last broken the U.S Player
serve during the final game to emerge victorious in the end in five sets.
Yen, by virtue of this win, registered his name as the first player from Asia since Shuzo Matsuoka of Japan at Wimbledon back in 1995 to advance into the final eight round of a major event. The run did not continue for him, though; as the right hander went
on to fall to world number three Novak Djokovic two days later.
“Through three sets I was playing horrendously, I mean really, really badly. Actually I think the fifth set was probably the best set that I played as far as hitting the ball, making him struggle to actually get through service games sometimes. But when
you dig yourself a hole, it's tough to get out. He deserved to win more than I did. That is for sure,” lamented Andy after his loss.
2. Lleyton Hewitt surpassed Roger Federer; Halle Final
Former top ranked Lleyton Hewitt showed his immense sporting aptitude when the right hander ended his fifteen match losing streak versus Roger Federer in the title battle at Halle. Only about four months earlier, the professional tennis player from Australia
had undergone a hip surgery after losing at the hands of Swiss tennis maestro in straight sets in the fourth round of the year’s opening Grand Slam, the Australian Open in Melbourne.
Roger went into their twenty fifth encounter having triumphed in seventy six of his previous seventy seven clashes on grass, including compiling a run of twenty nine straight wins on the lawns of Halle. The 6-time grass court Grand Slam winner and five time
Halle champion failed to capitalise on a 0/40 advantage on Lleyton’s serve during the ninth game of the second set, though, and the Australian made Roger rue his missed opportunities as he won the subsequent tie-break before sealing a three setter win in the
end. The final match score was 3-6, 7-6(4), 6-4.
“It is fantastic. Roger is a h**l of an opponent; his grass-court record speaks for itself. Any time you play Roger on a grass court you know you are in for a h**l of a battle and I was lucky to get out of today’s match. It is fantastic for me as I am getting
towards the end of my career and had a couple of surgeries- to know I can still compete at this level. I am thrilled to be here and to have won another title,” said Hewitt after his victory.
It was the Australian’s first win over Roger since September 2003 in the semi final rubber of the Davis Cup and saw him improve his perfect mark in tour-level grass-court finals to 7-0.
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