Lleyton Hewitt shocks Juan Monaco in opening round – Valencia Open 2012
Former world number one, Lleyton Hewitt, surprised everyone after jolting down the London contender, Juan Monaco, in straight sets at the Valencia Open 2012 on Monday. He nudged up a 6-3, 6-4 victory against the world number 10 to power into the second round
at this indoor hard court event held in Valencia, Spain.
The Australian icon re-ignited his spark to stun fourth seeded Argentinean in their first encounter. After recording the victory in one hour and 42 minutes, Hewitt not only crushed dreams of Monaco for qualifying at the year-end Barclays ATP (Association
of Tennis Professionals) World Tour Finals and inched towards his 29th career title.
"Monaco is a good player. The second set was tough," said the jubilant Aussie in a courtside interview after recording this upset victory. "I played some matches in Stockholm; I reached the quarter-finals against Almagro."
The 31-year-old made a comfortably entry at the Ciutat de les Arts i les Ciències. He drew the first blood in the second game and took a 2-0 lead. Despite squandering his edge in the very next game, Hewitt broke his opponent’s serve again and leaped to a
4-1 lead. The Aussie kept his remaining serves with poise and eventually sealed the opener by winning six games to three.
Currently ranked 91st in the South African Airways ATP World Tour Rankings, Hewitt swayed from his path towards the following set. He endured the initial loss in the second game and fell at 0-2. The Aussie recovered in the proceeding game but
gifted away his serve again to go 1-3 down. However, he not only snatched his break back again and but got the breakthrough in the seventh game, subsequently clicking the set with a 6-4 win.
The veteran struck five aces and despite clobbering a lower first serve share of 58 per cent as compared to his rival’s 72 per cent, he clinched 29 out of 42 points on it. Hewitt sought 12 break chances and ended the match with 72 points.
Hewitt will face off the Croatian qualifier, Ivan Dodig, who upset the German number one, Philipp Kohlschreiber, in straight sets to set up this meeting.
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