Hewitt stumbles into round three
Lleyton Hewitt has claimed his 100th career victory on grass court by defeating Evgeny Korolev 6-4 6-4 3-0 and slipping into the third round for the 10th time at Wimbledon.
Korolev, hailing from Kazakhstan, came into the match as the underdog, ranked 77 in the world, and losing to Hewitt in straight sets in their previous meeting on clay last year. The Australian 2002 Wimbledon champion was ahead of Korolev at two sets to love and a break, when the Kazakhstani decided to forfeit due to an arm injury. This must be a somewhat disappointing anticlimactic finish for Hewitt, who was in control of the match for the entire time, and will be unable to determine how much of his match success was actually due to Korolev’s injury.
Korolev does not generally do well in Grand Slam tournaments, and has made it to only one third-round appearance in a major despite having previously contested 14 draws at Grand Slams.
Hewitt’s confidence is on a high as he enters round three of Wimbledon action, following his leading win over Korolev. The South Australian committed only seven errors in two sets, producing one of his best serving streaks in a while.
Hewitt has the last say
At the outset of the first set, Korolev was working hard, finally coming through from being at deuce in order to get his first game of the match on the score board.
From being 2-0 down in the second set, Hewitt was able to deliver four consecutive love service games to gain control of the match. In total, the Aussie delivered 18 successive points on serve during the match, landing 67 per cent of his first serves. These impressive stats are coupled with another ten aces that Hewitt powered out down the line past Korolev’s tired disposition.
Korolev lost his racquet in an attempt to slip 30-0 down with his forehand. However, Hewitt was able to catch the net by moving forward before Korolev delivered a passing winner to level the score. Hewitt hit a wobbly forehand to arrive at deuce, and eventually made his way through, to the very vocal excitement of his legion of Australian fans.
At 3-5 in the first set, Korolev forced Hewitt him back down to 40-30, yet the Australian showed his resilience and delivered a flawless forehand into the corner, with Korolev unable to take control of his reply.
Hewitt kept his opponent sweating towards the end of the match, and at last Korolev got the advantage of Hewitt falling away at 30-30. Yet after missing a forehand and producing a long hit, Hewitt got a double-break.
There was a break in play on two separate occasions as Korolev underwent medical treatment. He was up, and looked well enough to continue with the match, but Hewitt’s unrelenting opposition may have been physically too daunting for the Kazakh.
Korolev finally informed the umpire that he wished to discontinue the match due to his injury. This was a disappointing way to end the play.
Hewitt was too much of an opposing force for Korolev today under the sun at the No. 1 Court.
"I served extremely well and it's nice to be through to the third round," Hewitt said. "Everything's going great at the moment. Obviously (beating Federer at) Halle gave me a lot of confidence about how I can play on this surface. But it only gets tougher from here on in as you go through the draw. You've just got to give yourself an opportunity in the second week."
Hewitt also recently had the pleasure of blasting Roger Federer, the six-time Wimbledon champion.
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