Roger Federer squandered the opportunity to become world no. 1 in the summer of 2003 after losing to Andy Roddick and David Nalbandian in Montreal, Cincinnati and the US Open. After New York, Federer embraced a long trip down under to Melbourne, leading his country against Australia in the Davis Cup World Group semi-final.
Alongside a brilliant run at Wimbledon and his first Major title, Roger was on a roll in the Davis Cup that year, kicking off the campaign with two singles wins over the Netherlands in Arnhem. In another away tie, Federer and his teammates took down France in Toulouse at the beginning of April.
Roger delivered three points for his country and the September’s against Australia in Melbourne. Flying from one part of the world to another, Federer did his best to prepare for the action at Rod Laver Arena, hoping to lead Switzerland into the final.
Like at Wimbledon, Roger defeated Mark Philippoussis before that thrilling doubles encounter he and Marc Rosset lost to Wayne Arthurs and Todd Woodbridge in five epic sets. In the third singles rubber, Lleyton Hewitt ousted Roger 5-7, 2-6, 7-6, 7-5, 6-1 in three and a half hours to secure the home nation’s third point and send them through.
Federer said it was one of his most brutal defeats in a career, never squandering such a massive lead before. The Swiss had more winners and unforced errors, keeping the points on his racquet but fading from the court after a tight fourth set.
In 2003 Davis Cup semi-final, Roger Federer wasted a 2-0 lead against Lleyton Hewitt.
Lleyton wasted a game point at 5-6 in the opener and got broken to give Roger an initial advantage. From 2-2 in set number two, Federer rattled off five straight games to open up a 7-5, 6-2, 1-0 lead and march toward the finish line in those moments.
Serving for the triumph at 5-3, Federer got broken and allowed Hewitt to stay in touch. The Aussie stole the momentum, took a tie break and forged a 5-2 advantage in set number four. Making one last push, Federer climbed back to 5-5 before losing steam and dropping eight of the final nine games to push Lleyton over the top.
“That Davis Cup loss against Lleyton Hewitt was one of the toughest ones of my career. I do not think I ever lost a match after winning the opening two sets and serving for the win. I had the upper hand in the first two sets, playing well.
I pulled a break back in the fourth set before losing it 7-5. I was a bit tired from the doubles encounter, but I have to give Lleyton full credit; he did not miss much from the third set. We were in different positions, with him trying to seal the deal and me hoping to level the score at 2-2. It was not hard to forget about that match,” Roger Federer said.
