Lleyton Hewitt might not be the quickest of servers, but the Australian showcased tremendous variation in speed and placement to out-wit fifth seed Juan Martin del Potro of Argentina at The Championships on Thursday.
The 2002 champion kept the Australian flag flying in the singles draw, where he is the nation’s sole representative, with a vintage performance for 6-3, 7-5, 7-5 second-round win in two hours and 32 minutes.
“I executed perfectly,” said Hewitt. “[I] hit the ball great. Served unbelievable for most of the match [and I] took it to him right from the start. It was a big win. I wanted to beat a top five guy. These are the places you want to do it, too.”
It was Hewitt’s first win over a Top 15 opponent since May 2007 and also his first Top 10 win at a Grand Slam championship since beating No. 2-ranked Andy Roddick in the 2005 Australian Open semi-finals, breaking a streak of 12 consecutive losses.
Hewitt fought off four break points in a lengthy fifth game, before moving into a 4-2 lead when del Potro hit a backhand and forehand into the net. The former World No. 1 was forced to save another two break points en route to winning the first set, in which he hit six aces and committed just three unforced errors.
The 20-year-old del Potro, who had his right knee taped up before the start of the second set, hit a double fault and a forehand into the net in the 10th game to gift Hewitt a service break that he duly converted for a two sets to love lead.
Cheered on by a large Australian contingent on Centre Court, World No. 56 Hewitt immediately broke del Potro’s serve at the start of the third set. The Tandil resident fired a second-serve return over the baseline on break point in the eighth game, before enjoying the briefest of resurgences to level the scoreline at 5-5. But Hewitt responded with a service break of his own and closed out a famous win minutes later.
“I’ve got a lot of respect for del Potro," Hewitt said. "He’s a great player, and he's only going to get better. He’s a future Grand Slam champion on possibly any surface. I knew it was going to be a tough match today, but I was up for it from the start.”
Del Potro, who has followed Hewitt's career since the age of 11, said, "I played good [from] the baseline, but I did miss with my serve, especially [on] the break points. Two breaks, three breaks, and that's it. The match, it's over."
Hewitt, who has reached the fourth round (or better) for the past five years, will next face Philipp Petzschner - the winner of an all-German clash over Mischa Zverev 4-6, 7-6(13), 3-6, 7-6(5), 6-0.
For the first time in 70 years at The Championships, Australia has one man in the singles draw. It is also the first time in the Open Era, at any of the four Grand Slam championships that only one Australian man is competing in the main draw.(From Website : http://www.atpworldtour.com/News/Tennis/2009/06/Wimbledon-Thursday-Vintage-Hewitt-Rips-Past-del-Potro.aspx)
