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Hewitt takes hat off to 'too good' Federer
Lleyton Hewitt laid it all on the line against Wimbledon champion Roger Federer on Wednesday and still came up short.
Lleyton Hewitt laid it all on the line against Wimbledon champion Roger Federer on Wednesday and still came up short.
The former world number one, considered one of the fiercest competitors in sport, could only take his hat off to the Swiss after losing 6-1 6-7 6-0 6-4 in the quarter-finals of the grasscourt grand slam.
"Mate, I gave everything I had," he said. "But when he's got that confidence going he's a very tough player to beat.
"Lets just say I don't see anyone here beating him this week so that's three grand slams he will have ... two in one year.
"With his game, he is going to be in with a shout at every major," he said of the reigning Australian Open and Wimbledon champion.
"It's disappointing any time you lose at a grand slam and especially Wimbledon," he added. "Against the best players in the world -- and today, against the best player in the world -- you've got to take your chances when you get them and I couldn't do that."
However Hewitt, Wimbledon champion in 2002, said he believes he was not far away from felling the top seed.
"I was up a break in the fourth set ... had break points, you know, I didn't think I played that bad a game out there but then he attacked and before you know it you're back in the locker room," he said.
"I felt I played a good match. But this is Wimbledon, you're always going to be disappointed.
"It was tough out there ... a close match. He really stepped it up. You've got to give him credit -- he's the best player in the world right now."
But Hewitt, who won the US Open in 2001, said he was pleased with his form and progress.
"I'm really happy with the way I'm hitting the ball -- I've done all the hard work, feel I've prepared as well as I could," he said.
"At the end of the day I've been beaten by Roger (Federer) in two of them (grand slams) and (French Open champion Gaston) Gaudio in the other, so they were just too good.
"Today he came out and was right on fire from the start. But I felt like I had a lot of chances. When he plays the sort of tennis he was playing in the first set he is very hard to beat.
"But I didn't feel I was that far away from beating him ... if I could have consolidated that break in the fourth set and gone 5-3 up I could've won that, then the whole momentum would have changed going into the fifth.
"I'm disappointed now, but there's positives to take."
