A look back at 2003

2003 seems a lifetime ago, and on the ATP tour turned out to be an intriguing period in recent history. We had Agassi's last slam win, 3 first time slam winners and a real tussle for number 1 spot throughout the summer.

The number 1 player at the start of the year was Lleyton Hewitt, only just 22 and reigning Wimbledon champion and winner of 2002 year end Master's final (beat Ferrero in 5 sets).

Onto the Australian Open, which was memorable for an epic 5 set tussle between Younes El Aynoui and promising youngster Andy Roddick. Roddick won this long gruelling quarter-final match but ran out of energy in the following semi-final match. The unheralded Rainer Schuettler (a solid top 10 player but no more) reached the final, only to be ruthlessly swatted in the final by Agassi, the last slam win of Agassi's career. In Agassi's late career, he was a dominant force at the Australian Open, playing with a very effective (excellent fitness, footwork, and real control of his service games despite not being a massive server) but less flambuoyant style than he'd had previously in his career.

Hewitt won Indian Wells, one of his few triumphs of the year. Onto the claycourt season where the dominant 'King of Clay' of the time was Ferrero. He'd disappointingly lost 2002 French Open final to Albert Costa, but this time triumphed, beating Martin Verkerk who came from nowhere to reach the final. Whilst Ferrero was no Nadal, he was an excellent claycourter who in my opinion was worth more than 1 win at Roland Garros.

Onto Wimbledon. Hewitt lost early at Queens, which was won by Roddick, who was in hot form, and looked nigh on impossible to break. Halle was won by Federer, beating Kiefer in the final. The Halle win gave Federer a sweep of tournament wins on all surfaces - after a pretty forgettable 2002 he was starting to climb up the rankings and win tournaments, although these were smaller tournaments. Hewitt, was world number 1, and defending champion, should have been a favourite for Wimbledon, but lost, in a massive 1st round shock to qualifier Karlovic. With no Sampras, and Agassi losing in the quarters, the key match was the semi between Roddick and Federer - hotly anticipated as both were in good form and the winners of the 2 big warm-up tournaments. Between the 2 players Roddick had arguably looked a stronger big-match player previously, but in the event, the match was a hugely impressive clinical demolition job from Federer, who went on to beat the powerful but predictable Phillippousis in final. For me, Federer's 2003 Wimbledon win is the sweetest, not just because we saw an impressive talent finally blossom but because of the way he won Wimbledon - he serve and volleyed behind 1st and 2nd serve. It was the last time Wimbledon was won by serve and volley.

After his Wimbledon success, Federer had a comparatively disappointing hardcourt summer. Instead, it was Roddick who stormed through, winning Montreal, Cincinatti and US Open in a storming run. Roddick could well have lost to Nalbandian in the US Open semis, but managed to prevail and beat Ferrero (who was tired from his later semi-final on 'Super Saturday'). Nevertheless, it was a great achievement from Roddick to win back-to-back Masters and US Open. Things also looked promising for Nalbandian who was finally maturing into a more accomplished player than when he'd lost the 2002 Wimbledon final. And Ferrero looked to have a v bright future, backing up his claycourt credentials with his accomplishments on the hard-courts.

Over the summer, the number 1 ranking passed from Hewitt to Agassi to Ferrero, and at the end of the year it was close between Federer, Ferrero and Roddick but Roddick ended the year at number 1. The year on the whole had been a big disappointment for Hewitt but he did get some success by steering the Australians to win the Davis Cup final, beating Switzerland in the semis on the way (and an epic win over Federer in that tie). The 2003 Davis Cup triumph for Australia would prove to be their last win in the competition, before the dominance of Russia and Spain.

Looking back then, an interesting year, and who really would have predicted Federer's level of dominance afterwards and no further slams for Ferrero, Roddick or Hewitt!

Yes good breakdown of 10 years ago for me Safin was the biggest mystery, he had as much talent as anyone who has ever picked up a racquet and he just never seemed to want it enough. Roddick was a surprise that he failed to win another slam since when he won his first slam he was such a lacking and rough player. He had nothing but the serve and forehand. Really nothing but that and was highly deficient in pretty much every other area on the court. American sports fans were sold some fool's gold and even I thought, wow if he can win a slam now imagine how well he could do when he actually learns how to play tennis? Fortunately Roger rose up and lifted the bar from this sad type of thinking. Hewitt on the other hand I really do feel for the guy because he deserved better and never gave up the fight. He was the one guy out of this group that just kept asking his body for more than it could give.

Thanks for this MrInvisible, nicely-written piece and always good to take a look back now & then

Do I sense this might be the first of a series, with more to come.......? If so, I'd say you seem the perfect guy for the job .....!!

You highlight Hewitt as the man-of-the-moment coming into 2003, and given just how much was expected of him after becoming the youngest-ever World Number One, it's interesting to reflect on just how rapid was his subsequent decline. Sure, he was blighted by repeated injury over the years and he battled against the odds with more determination than many others might have done. But there have also been many many times when he was in good shape and playing well through a tournament, still very young, only to then come up very short in the semis or Final. Sometimes VERY short - most notably in the USO 2004 when he was fit enough to cruise effortlessly through six rounds before then being bagelled twice in the Final. And wrt his Wimbledon exit which you mention ..... I believe (??) it's still the only case of a defending champ losing in R1.

Hewitt was a fine player in his day and that trademark spirit and fighting quality brought much-deserved admiration. But sadly the majority of his career highlights were condensed into just two, or at most, three years, as evidenced by the fact that his last title of real status came as far back as the very year you have profiled - ie 2003.

Safin's name is certainly absent from my original post. Truth is, he just wasn't a factor in most tournaments in 2003. Always hated grass (though his dislike of Wimbledon seems a bit daft when you see how Nadal and Djokovic have prospered there with their games) and prone to silly early losses in the other slams, he didn't get back on track til 2004 when he reached the Australian Open final.

As for Hewitt, at the end of 2003, he worked on his conditioning and in 2004 certainly had more zip on his serve. In 2004 he played well in the slams but kept running into Federer, who by then had started to figure out how to beat his former nemesis.

Safin..meh, what about Tim Henman beating Roddick and Federer to win his only masters title in Paris, well, let me mention it here since it didn't quiite make the cut.

Interesting in the 2003 match before that we could still argue Roddick/Federer who was the better player. And Federer beat him comfortably, maybe even outclassed him a little bit. He actually played at his 2004 level in that match, but it wasn't until 2004 that he brought more consistency.

As for Hewitt the funny thing is, 2003 was still a good year for him, because he won the Davis Cup and at the end said the feeling was better than a slam.
His results:

R1 vs Great Britain Hewitt 3-0 Bogdanovic + doubles win

QF vs Sweden Hewitt 3-1 Enqvist

SF vs Swizerland Hewitt 3-0 Kratochvil and Hewitt 3-2 Federer (coming back from 0-2)

F vs Spain Hewitt 3-2 Ferrero (coming back from 0-1 and 1-2)

Poor Ferrero lost 2 five setters in the final.

So really Hewitt, Federer, Ferrero and Roddick and even Agassi shared out this year in a way that hasn't been repeated since. From 2004-2011 this was not repeated as one player was clearly the best in each of those years.