Lleyton Hewitt trounces Philippe Chatrier of Rolland Garros
Two-time grandslam winner Lleyton Hewitt was about to wrap up his match point against a young man ranked as number 46 in the world just when a fierce summer rain threatened to sweep through on Court Philippe Chatrier of Rolland Garros on Tuesday local time.
With an overcast sky and an edgy audience starting to scamper from the rains, the former world number one eventually trounced the homeboy Jeremy Chardy of France in three straight sets, 7-5 6-0 6-4, and capping the game in just two hours and six minutes.
The cruising win also earned for Hewitt a ticket to advance through the second round of the on-going French Open as he joined six other Australian hopefuls who also won their respective first round battles on day three of the clay court tournament.
With the victory, Hewitt is inching closer to the anticipated possibility of an epic battle with tournament favourite Rafael Nadal though the Australian was quoted as saying that “I'm not even thinking about Rafa (Nadal) just yet, I just come off the court and I won't even be thinking about him until I get on top of Istomin.”
He was referring to Denis Istomin of Russia, currently ranked as world number 72, and who he described as a good ball striker and agile for a big guy, as he stressed that it will be a “..totally different matchup to today's matchup (against Chardy), but in a couple days' time I'll be ready.
Hewitt had previously played against Istomin in the 2008 Australian Open and the Russian was disposed off in four sets of their only previous match.
It was not an easy sailing at all for the 28th seed as the gritty Australian, still reeling from an early fourth round exit from the Australian Open in January, only managed to dominate the match by the second set and even almost handed a breakpoint to the young Frenchman in the set’s fourth game.
Hewitt was serving for the match then when he double-faulted which brought the last game to a deuce, yet the high-spirited Australian held back and went on to win two successive points en route to a rain-soaked victory.
Hewitt told reporters in a post-match media conference that it was a good win and he was happy to get it through, adding that, “It would have been frustrating, just how the match was panning out to have to stop for whether it was one or two games or another set.”
He lauded his French opponent for playing extremely well and clearly leaving note that he “…was playing with a young man who is on the rise on clay surface where there is a bit more bounce and pace which I think suits his game style a little better.”
Hewitt acknowledged that he will be facing a tough draw from the tournament but he is trying “..to gain as much confidence from that as I can do.”
For his part, Chardy conceded that he panicked and lost his composure when Hewitt broke his serve at 5-5 in the first set.
The Frenchman admitted that Hewitt gained the upper hand from that point as he stressed that it was a different game when you panic on centre court.
“The game there goes a lot faster than on any other court. So for a very long moment I had the impression I couldn't hit any balls. I was panicking. It was like swirling and all the shots were difficult for me,” he said.
Hewitt’s victory has set the stage for a fourth encounter with Nadal at the French Open but first things first; a win against Istomin, which is very probable at this stage, will at least replicate his Rolland Garros results for the past two years.
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