Young Brit continues Hewitt’s title drought

Rising British teenager Andy Murray claimed his first ATP Tour title by coming back from a set down to stun Australian third seed Lleyton Hewitt 2-6 6-1 7-6(3) in the final of the SAP Open in San Jose.

A day earlier, Hewitt praised Murray’s ball-striking, mobility and court intelligence, suggesting that he was in for a battle to win his first title since capturing the Sydney International in January 2005.

It turned out that these were the qualities that the 18-year-old Murray would use to upset his more favoured opponent.

Murray, a Scottish native, needed three match points to subdue the gritty world No.11, winning the third set tiebreaker 7-3 with a backhand crosscourt winner to become the youngest Brit in the Open era to win an ATP title.

After breaking his opponent three times in taking out the opening set, Hewitt went on to lose three of his own service games in the Murray-dominated second set.

Hewitt then found himself playing catch-up in the decisive third set.

Murray took an early 2-0 lead before being broken back by his Aussie opponent to make it 2-2. Soon after, the British 18-year-old broke for the second time in the set to take a 4-2 lead, but the battling Hewitt was able to break back again to stay in the match.

Hewitt saved two match points – one at 4-5 and another at 5-6 – with a pair of aces to send the tense final into a tiebreaker.

After sealing victory, the ecstatic winner wrapped himself in a British flag provided by a delighted member of the crowd.

For Australia, it was a disappointing finish to a relatively decent week in San Jose with 34-year-old veteran Wayne Arthurs reaching the quarterfinals before going down to compatriot Hewitt, while top 10-player-turn-journeyman Mark Philippoussis showed a glimpse of a return to form when he stunned Spanish world No.14 Tommy Robredo in the opening round before disappointingly bowing out to world No.97 Robin Soderling of Sweden in his following match.

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