Australian Lleyton Hewitt mixed serve and volley with his natural counter-punching style to reach the second round of the Sydney International yesterday.
The former world No. 1 pressured Frenchman Nicolas Mahut's service to come away with a solid 6-3, 6-4 win in 87 minutes to set up an all-Australian match with big-serving Davis Cup team-mate Chris Guccione today.
Hewitt, now ranked 21, is working under experienced coach Tony Roche, who has been on the practice court for hours with his new charge, tuning up his game for next week's Australian Open in Melbourne.
Hewitt, normally a rigid two-handed baseliner, has introduced more of a serve-volley game under Roche's tutelage and is not yet fully comfortable with the tactic in his bid to make up ground on world No. 1 Roger Federer in the rankings.
"It's not my natural game," Hewitt said after beating the 44th-ranked Mahut.
Mahut held match point against Andy Roddick in last year's final on grass at Queen's in London, only to lose to the American in a third-set tiebreaker.
"I'm definitely getting more comfortable [playing serve and volley], but I still have got to be able to put it into practice," Hewitt said.
Hewitt, the former Wimbledon and US Open champion, said he had a lot of break point opportunities on Mahut's serve to put pressure on the Frenchman.
"It was a matter of trying to stay on top of that and not get too worried about losing my serve," Hewitt said. "He played a pretty flashy game to break my serve in the first set, but I bounced back straight away breaking him again ... that was a huge positive."
Mahut's exit capped a dark day for the French men's contingent, with Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who beat Hewitt in Adelaide last week, bowing out to Italian Andreas Seppi 3-6, 6-3, 6-2.
Paul-Henri Mathieu retired with a left hamstring injury after losing the opening set to Russian Evgeny Korolev.
Czech Radek Stepanek knocked out tournament second seed Tommy Robredo of Spain 6-4, 6-2, while Russian Dmitry Tursunov eased past Switzerland's Stanislas Wawrinka 6-3, 6-3.
After letting another big lead slip with an error-strewn performance at the French Open on Wednesday, top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka felt like getting as far away from the courts as possible. “Just want to quit tennis right now,” Sabalenka said after wasting a lead of a set and two breaks in a 3-6, 7-5, 6-0 loss to Diana Shnaider in the women’s singles quarter-finals. “We’ll see in few days. Hopefully I’ll get back on track mentally.” Sabalenka’s wait for a first French Open title continues despite the four-time major winner leading 4-1 in the second set and being two points from victory while
BIG NAMES GONE: Zverev is the clear favorite for a maiden Grand Slam title, reaching semi-finals for the fifth time in six years and finishing second on three occasions Alexander Zverev on Tuesday breezed past Rafael Jodar to stay on course for an elusive Grand Slam title at the French Open, while Jakub Mensik halted Joao Fonseca’s scintillating run in the quarter-finals. Zverev, the highest-ranked player left in the men’s draw, put an end to Spanish teenager Jodar’s impressive Roland Garros debut, easing into the semi-finals with a 7-6, (7/3), 6-1, 6-3 win. The 29-year-old Zverev is the clear favorite for a maiden Grand Slam title. He has finished runner-up on three occasions, including at the 2024 French Open. “I want to win the matches that are ahead of
Liverpool are in advanced talks with former AFC Bournemouth manager Andoni Iraola as they seek a replacement for Arne Slot, reports said on Tuesday. Iraola has emerged as Liverpool’s top target to replace Slot, who was sacked on Saturday last week after a turbulent second season in charge. Liverpool have reportedly agreed a deal in principle to bring the Spaniard, who left Bournemouth at the end of this season, to Anfield. Sporting director Richard Hughes was heavily involved in hiring Iraola during his time at Bournemouth and is again spearheading the recruitment of the highly rated coach. The Reds are
US President Donald Trump said he would attend Game 3 of the NBA Finals on Monday at Madison Square Garden, but said he does not have much sympathy for ordinary basketball fans who cannot afford sky-high ticket prices to do the same. “They can watch it on television,” Trump said aboard Air Force One on Friday as he flew to Wisconsin for an event with farmers, after he was asked about tickets that have climbed as high as US$8,000 each when the New York Knicks and San Antonio Spurs square off in Manhattan for the first time in the series. “It’s sorta
RSS