Lleyton Hewitt outlasts Igor Kunitsyn to enter round two – Brisbane International 2013
Former world number one, Lleyton Hewitt, got the better of the Russian lucky loser, Igor Kunitsyn, in a three-set thriller at the Brisbane International 2013 on Tuesday. He penned down a 6-3, 4-6, 6-2 victory against his fellow 31-year-old to power into
the second round at this ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) World Tour 250 series event taking place in Brisbane, Australia.
The local wild card entrant, Hewitt re-ignited his old spark to outclass Kunitsyn in their second encounter at this outdoor hard court event. After recording this victory in almost two hours, the Aussie not only avenged his loss in Adelaide six years ago
but also levelled the FedEx ATP Head 2 Head Series by 1-1 against Kunitsyn.
The 2005 Australian Open runner-up was quoted in an on-court interview after bagging the match, "It was pretty high quality tennis actually for the whole two hours, three tough sets. It was a good start to the tournament for me. I didn't really play too
many bad points the whole match. He came out there with the attitude he had nothing to lose, which a lot of lucky losers do, and that makes it awkward playing those guys. But I kept my concentration. I stuck it out."
Hewitt made a comfortable entry at the Queensland Tennis Centre. After Kunitsyn held his serve in the fifth game, the Aussie went berserk and reeled off four games in a row. He was never challenged with any breakpoint and cashed two out of three break chances
to manipulate a 6-3 victory.
The Russian veteran rebounded in the following set. He swiftly bagged his entire serves after dusting away all three breakpoints he came across. Kunitsyn got the breakthrough in the ninth game and eventually clinched the equaliser with a 6-4 score line.
Currently ranked 83rd in the South African Airways ATP World Tour Rankings, Hewitt re-gathered his strength in the deciding set. He got the coveted break in the fourth game and jumped to a 4-1 lead. The Aussie capitalised on another break chance
in the last game and clicked the decider with a 6-2 win.
Next up for Hewitt is the Uzbekistani challenger, Denis Istomin, who stunned eighth seeded Martin Klizan with a breadstick to set-up this battle.
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