Mustard
Bionic Poster
We know the scoreline today and how the rest of Hewitt's career unfolded. So the narrative today of Hewitt being a chump/pigeon etc makes it an easier fit as a storyline today, looking back.
What only someone who watched that live will know how jaw-dropping that performance really was. Hewitt wasn't some chump then. He was a proven slam champion. He came into that final riding high on confidence, not dropping a set all tournament and winning the US open series before that.
And stuff like that just did NOT happen in tennis, at least not on the men's side - one slam finalist bageling the other, not once but twice. It was a watershed moment for what was about to come.
We had no clue if Roger would beat Sampras' record (a million things can happen), but we knew we were in for a ride as Fed fans... it was just exciting, exhilarating.
It was jaw dropping. Going into the match, I fancied Hewitt to pull off the upset. The way Federer won though, seemed to confirm he'd be around dominating for a while.