Four-time defending champion Rafael Nadal made clear his intentions to triumph once more at Roland Garros by lifting his game to clip former ATP World Tour No. 1 Lleyton Hewitt 6-1, 6-3, 6-1 and reach the fourth round in Paris on Friday.
After a relatively low-key start to the tournament for Nadal by his exceedingly high standards, tennis fans looked with anticipation to see what challenge two-time Grand Slam champion Hewitt would present to the Spaniard. Nadal duly responded by significantly raising his level and, despite great tenacity and fine tactics from Hewitt, sent out a clear message to all his rivals with a resounding victory over the Australian.
Nadal was fast out of the blocks in the third match of the day on Philippe Chatrier, rallying from 0-40 in Hewitt’s opening service game to break the Australian and open up a 3-0 lead. The left-hander wore Hewitt down from the baseline, consistently coaxing him into unforced errors as the Adelaide native tried to go for too much in an attempt to get the ball past Nadal. A second break of serve in the sixth game aided Nadal as he closed out the one-set lead after 30 minutes.
Fans were treated to a taster of what might have been early in the second set as Hewitt reeled off three straight games to recover from an early break of serve and lead 3-2, courtesy of some varied and attacking play from the right-hander. However, it only served to further intensify Nadal - who accordingly raised his level to win the next four games and quash Hewitt’s resistance. The third set was a more straightforward affair for Nadal, with breaks in the first and sixth games spurring him on to victory after one hour and 51 minutes.
The loss for Hewitt, who is making his way back up the South African Airways 2009 ATP Rankings after undergoing hip surgery last August, extended his losing streak against Top 10 opponents to 14 matches. The two-time Roland Garros quarter-finalist won his 27th tour-level title at his first clay-court event of the season in Houston (d. Odesnik) and marked his 500th singles win in the first round in Munich (d. Petzschner).
The 22-year-old Nadal has won a record 31 successive matches at Roland Garros since making his debut in 2005. The Mallorcan has also won 32 consecutive sets at Roland Garros, the second-longest winning streak in the tournament’s history behind Bjorn Borg (41). He has enjoyed near-perfect preparation for his assault on a fifth straight title, winning three clay-court titles at ATP World Tour Masters 1000 events in Monte-Carlo and Rome and on home soil in Barcelona. The only blemish on his 2009 clay-court record is the loss he suffered to Roger Federer in the final of ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Madrid.
Next in line for Nadal will be No. 23 seed Robin Soderling, who battled past 14th-seeded Spaniard David Ferrer 6-7(5), 7-5, 6-2, 7-6(5). The Swede hit 64 winners and converted six of 17 break points, including winning 73 per cent of points at the net, to edge through in three hours and 36 minutes. Nadal has a 3-0 career record against Soderling, including two wins on clay.
World No. 25 Soderling is through to the fourth round of a Grand Slam for the first time after winning his 15th match of the season. He is the 20th Swedish man to reach the fourth round at Roland Garros, and the first to do so since Jonas Bjorkman in 2007.
World No. 3 Andy Murray was granted a place in the Roland Garros fourth round for the first time when Janko Tipsarevic retired due to a hip injury with Murray leading 7-6(3), 6-3. Murray had fought back from a 2-5 deficit in the first set, with Tipsarevic also serving for the set at 6-5, to claim the one-set lead on a tie-break before clinching a more routine second set.
The 22-year-old Murray made his Grand Slam breakthrough at Wimbledon (l. to Nadal) in 2008, reaching the quarter-finals for the first time before advancing to his first major final at the US Open in September (l. to Federer). He is the first Briton to reach the fourth round at Roland Garros since Tim Henman made the semi-finals in 2004 (l. to Coria).
The Dunblane native has won three hard-court titles in 2009, at Doha (d. Roddick), Rotterdam (d. Nadal) and ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Miami (d. Djokovic) and entered Roland Garros with the third-best (31-5) match record on the season. Under the guidance of Alex Corretja, he reached his first clay-court semi-final at ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Monte-Carlo (l. to Nadal) and reached the quarter-finals in Madrid (l. to del Potro).
Murray will take a 2-0 career lead into his fourth-round clash with Marin Cilic. The No. 13 seed from Croatia was ruthless in his 6-1, 7-6(4), 6-3 victory over Czech No. 18 seed Radek Stepanek, hitting 40 winners and converting five of 14 break points.
The 20-year-old Cilic has matched his best showing at a Grand Slam, having reached the fourth round at the Australian Open in 2008 and 2009 and at 2008 Wimbledon. It is the first time that the right-hander has won three successive clay-court matches since reaching the Gstaad semi-finals in 2006. The Zagreb resident has compiled a 27-8 match record on the season, highlighted by winning two ATP World Tour titles at Chennai (d. Devvarman) and Zagreb (d. Ancic). He is currently a career-high No. 13 in the South African Airways 2009 ATP Rankings.
(From Website : http://www.atpworldtour.com/TENNIS/1/EN/NEWS/NEWSARTICLE_3819.ASP)PediaFire.Com
