Lleyton Hewitt advances into the third round; Andy Roddick retires – Australian Open 2012
In a match between two former top ranked players, local ace Lleyton Hewitt outshined the American tennis star, Andy Roddick, at the Australian Open 2012 on Thursday night. The 29-year-old American was trailing 6-3, 3-6, 4-6 when he was forced to retire due to a right hamstring injury at the first of the four Grand Slam event held in Melbourne, Australia.
A local wild card entrant and the crowd favourite, Hewitt re-ignited his 2003 spark and displayed top notch performance at the Rod Laver Arena. He lost the opener but clinched the following two sets before Roddick retired from the match. As a result, the Aussie not only levelled the head-to-head series by 7-7 against the American but also secured a spot in the round of 32.
“Mentally, it was one of my better performances tonight throughout my career,” said the 30-year-old Hewitt. “To keep your mind ticking over the whole time isn't easy. It would have been a lot easier if you weren't playing a big server, he could keep holding his serve out there because there was obviously nothing wrong with his shoulder. Yeah, that was hard. That's probably the biggest positive to take out of tonight.”
Ranked 16th in the South African Airways ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) World Rankings, Roddick assertively stepped on the hard courts and held his serve in the opening game. He maintained his form in the remaining set and after cashing in the only break opportunity in the sixth game, the American bagged the opener with a 6-3 win in 39 minutes.
"He's a tough guy to play,” Roddick said about the beaming Aussie. "...he's really intelligent. He knew what was going on."
Hewitt redeployed his strategy in the second set and earned the coveted break in the second game after capitalising the only break opportunity. Later, he kept remaining serves without facing any obstacle and eventually clinched the equaliser by winning six games to three in 40 minutes.
Currently standing at number 181 in the ATP rankings, Hewitt kept momentum rolling into the third set and broke the American’s serve in the opening game. Despite losing his edge in the very next game, he broke Roddick’s serve again in the fifth game and eventually clinched the set with a 6-4 score line.
The American was forced to retire after this, Hewitt on the other hand advanced in this Grand Slam event. He will face the 23rd seed, Milos Raonic, who battled past the German challenger, Philipp Petzschner, in a four set nail biter to set-up this clash.
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