Schewe elevates his serve to an offensive threat...but falls to KN's relentlessness 6-4,6-1!
Harmon Park, by Steve England; ESVN (Fair and Balanced) - It was quite obvious that Schewe's serve has elevated to classic form! His first serve can now be used as an offensive weapon to stagger his opponents, while giving him the opportunity to follow up with winning ground strokes. His second serve has a nice slicing spin for high percentage reliability, which also prevents him from becoming vulnerable to an aggressive service return by his opponent!
Schewe seems to have the momentum when he takes the lead at 4-3 in the first, but KN takes three unanswered to steal the set 6-4! KN was able to neutralize Schewe's advantages with enough service returns to get the ball in play, then win with hustle and ground-strokes! With chess-game like anticipation---KN would work the point until he opened up the court, then fire the ball for the winner! KN's ability to accelerate with explosive speed permitted him to chase down shots which otherwise would have been certain winners for Schewe! Although Schewe was extremely consistent...KN was more so!
With a court temperature of 145°---Schewe starts to show that the heat is affecting him! Schewe watches several shots fall good without making a play. Meanwhile, Schewe's once intimidating serve starts to lose some of it's punch, and double-faults start to creep in! If the heat affected KN, it didn't show! KN jumps to a 4-0 lead, before Schewe gets on the board! KN nails a drop-shot for match-point, then delivers a forehand winner to end the match! KN advances to the quarterfinals by defeating KS 6-4,6-1!
