Roger Federer and Lleyton Hewitt delivered a classic match during the Australian Open in 2004. The Aussie star Hewitt met the favorite Roger Federer in the fourth round at his home slam. The match got off to a perfect start as Hewitt won the first set to get the crowd going. However, Federer had other ideas as he came back from behind to win the match.
The official Australian Open channel on YouTube, recently posted a short video of a rally from this iconic match. Roger Federer is seen showcasing his brilliant defensive game during the point. Hewitt looked set to win the point on number of occasions, but could not break the Swiss’ defense. The tennis community shared their thoughts about this point in the comments section of the video.
One fans compared Federer’s defensive game to that of his rivals Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic. He commented, ‘best defense ever seen, better than prime Djokovic & Nadal’. While other fans were awestruck at the Swiss maestros ability to return some of the shots.
Federer looked destined to lose the point but kept fighting back before eventually winning the point. One fan commented that, ‘Federer lost the points like four times but still won it’ while others were impressed by Federer’s footwork to get to the ball.
Having lost the first set against Lleyton Hewitt, Federer had to come from behind to win against a hostile crowd. The Swiss maestro won the match 4–6, 6–3, 6–0, 6–4 to enter the quarterfinals of the Australian Open 2004.
Roger Federer and his amazing run at the Australian Open 2004
Roger Federer enjoyed incredible success in 2004. The Swiss star dominated the world tennis again as he won Australian Open, Wimbledon and the US Open, while only failing to win the French Open. The young Swiss also won the ATP Finals and finished the year as world number 1. However, all this domination began at the Australian Open.
Roger Federer cruised through the first three rounds with straight sets victory before facing the Australian Lleyton Hewitt in the fourth round. The Swiss star needed to come from behind to win the match and enter the quarterfinals, where he faced the Argentine David Nalbandian.
Federer defeated Nalbandian in four sets to make the Australian Open semi-final. The Swiss met Juan Carlos Ferrero, Carlos Alcaraz’s coach, in the semis and defeated his with ease in straight sets. Federer faced the former world number 1 Marat Safin in the final and won the match in straight sets 7–6(7–3), 6–4, 6–2.
This was Federer’s first ever Australian Open title and only his second Grand Slam. This victory started the Federer era in tennis as the Swiss went on to win three more Slams in 2004 and continued his domination in 2000s era.
