Lleyton Hewitt's Australian Open dream turned into a Russian nightmare on Sunday as Marat Safin fought back to deny him a first home Grand Slam title.
Hewitt has dreamed of victory at home since he was a small child but Safin turned the match around on Sunday to come back after a nervous start and triumph 1-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 in his third Melbourne Park final.
"I'm sure in a couple of days I'll look back and think that it's been a great achievement. I'll have no regrets and I've put absolutely everything into this tournament," Hewitt said.
"But right at the moment, I'm human and I'm disappointed," the 23-year-old said.
"You know, to come that close, train so hard to put yourself in a position, it's hard to take at the moment," he added.
Hewitt wasn't even born when Mark Edmondson -- the last Australian to win the championship -- beat John Newcombe in the 1976 final but a seven-year-old Hewitt did see Pat Cash get to the final in 1988.
In 1997 Hewitt, then 15, became the youngest qualifier to make the Australian Open main draw and he has not missed one since, although he has so far been unable to match his 2001 U.S. Open and 2002 Wimbledon victories.
NATIONAL EXPECTATIONS
Hewitt was willed on by a capacity Rod Laver Arena centre court crowd but said the weight of national expectations had not been a factor in losing the final.
"The whole tournament, there's obviously been high expectations and every match has been like a final, I guess," Hewitt said.
"I think I've handled it bloody well. It hasn't worried me the whole time. I've gone out there, done my thing. It's an awesome feeling to have the whole country behind you," he said.
Hewitt admitted to being disappointed after losing his last three big matches. The tenacious Australian was beaten by Roger Federer in U.S. Open final and again by the Swiss master at the Tennis Masters Cup in Houston.
"My game's definitely better than where it was 18 months ago. Making a U.S. Open final, a Masters Cup final, and now an Australian Open final, I'm obviously doing something right," Hewitt said.
"But it would have been nice to get one of them," he said.
Hewitt took some consolation from the fact that he will rise to number two in the world rankings after his best effort in Melbourne.
LITTLE CHANCE
But he said he had little chance after Safin regrouped from a slow start to turn the match at a crucial stage in the third set when, in the seventh game, he fought back to break Hewitt's serve and win the next five games.
"He really stepped it up from that point onwards. I didn't lose the match, he had to win it," Hewitt said.
"If I could have held that one and had an opportunity at 5-3 to try and serve out the third set then ... the momentum could have still been in my court. But to his credit, though, he definitely raised his game from that point on," he said.
He was also proud of how his widely acclaimed will to win got him through some tough matches on the way to the final, including five-setters against Spanish teenager Rafael Nadal in the fourth round and Argentine David Nalbandian in the quarter-finals.
He then blunted the fastest serve in tennis when he beat second seed Andy Roddick in the semi-finals.
"There's a lot of tough matches. The adrenaline was there and I played some of my best tennis. I think it just drew the best out of me the last two weeks," he said.
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