A long-standing rivalry will be revived once more in the final of the Brisbane International 2014 on Sunday as former world number ones Roger Federer and Lleyton Hewitt square off for the title.
Federer currently leads their head to head series at 18-8 with their last meeting dating back in 2011 at the Davis Cup World Group play-offs in Sydney.
“You want to play against the best players, and obviously Roger and I have a good history and a lot of tough matches in the past in [Grand] Slams and Davis Cups and everything,” said Hewitt. “He’s been great obviously for this tournament and ticket sales and promoting tennis in Australia again. I’m going to enjoy it.”
Federer advanced to the final after eliminating Jeremy Chardy 6-3, 6-7, 6-3. Earlier in the day, Hewitt outlasted 17th-ranked Kei Nishikori 5-7, 6-4, 6-3 in sweltering heat at the Queensland Tennis Center.
“It was tough conditions,” said Hewitt. “It was really tough to play out there for both of us today. It turned into a mental battle. I had a lot of chances in the second set, so I could have got down on myself a bit. To my credit I kept hanging in there and ended up getting a few errors out of him in the end of the second, which was nice.”
A win on Sunday means Federer will secure his 78th career singles title and will become the only one in third place in the all-time title holders list. He’s currently tied with John McEnroe.
