Open-Classy Djokovic ends Hewitt's hopes

By Simon Cambers

MELBOURNE, Jan 21 (Reuters) - Third seed Novak Djokovic ended the hopes of home favourite Lleyton Hewitt at the Australian Open on Monday, beating the former world number one 7-5 6-3 6-3 to reach the quarter-finals.

The Serbian recovered from a nervy start to clinch victory in two hours, 26 minutes and set up a last-eight clash with fifth seed David Ferrer of Spain.

"I was very, very, very nervous," Djokovic said in a courtside interview.

"In the first set I was lucky, but then afterwards I relaxed and tried to be aggressive and take control of the match which I did.

"Of course, Lleyton was very tired from the (Marcos) Baghdatis match a couple of nights ago, so I took my opportunities."

The Australian 19th seed's previous match had ended at 4.33am on Sunday morning but he showed no signs of fatigue as he broke to lead 4-2 in the first set, only for Djokovic to hit back and win it.

Hewitt, in his 12th Australian Open, gave himself hope when he broke early in the second set but Djokovic struck back to win it and he stormed into a 5-2 lead in the third.

The Serb squandered two match points as he was broken when serving for the match, but he broke Hewitt in the next game to reach the quarter-finals for the first time.

It was the first time in nine Australian Opens that Hewitt had lost a match in straight sets, while Djokovic has yet to drop a set in this year's tournament."

(Editing by Ed Osmond)

Djokovic humbles Hewitt

Monday, 21 January, 2008
By Brandon Cohen

Third seed Novak Djokovic held off Lleyton Hewitt and a pro-Australian crowd to advance to the quarter-finals of the Australian Open with a straight-sets victory on Rod Laver Arena.

The 20-year-old Serb overcame a lacklustre start before overpowering the local favourite 7-5 6-3 6-3.

Djokovic will now meet fifth seed David Ferrer, who defeated Spanish compatriot Juan Carlos Ferrero 7-5 3-6 6-4 6-1.

Coming off an exhausting five-set marathon against Marcos Baghdatis that ended at 4.34am on Sunday morning, Hewitt showed no signs of tiredness as he broke Djokovic early in the first set to take a 4-2 lead.

But wasted opportunities on Djokovic's serve in the seventh game - Hewitt held two break points - allowed the Serb back in the contest.

Serving to stay in the set at 5-6, the Australian had a poor service game to hand Djokovic the set in exactly an hour.

Hewitt broke Djokovic again early in the second set but gave it straight back in the next game as the Serb started to find his range from the back of the court.

The world No.3 broke Hewitt once more in the sixth game before holding his nerve to close out the set 6-3.

The third set was a mere formality with Djokovic looking more comfortable as the match progressed, easing to victory in almost two-and-a-half hours.

Saturday night fever

Sunday, 20 January, 2008
By Bren O'Brien

As the clock ticked closer to midnight, the whispers around Melbourne Park, around Australia, around the tennis world was that nothing would stop Lleyton Hewitt and Marcos Baghdatis facing off on Rod Laver Arena on Saturday night, even if it meant playing into much of Sunday morning.

The marquee match-up of the tournament to date would be played at an hour where most players would be tucked up in bed. But Hewitt, the most pugnacious of players who has always likened himself to Rocky Balboa, wasn't about to miss his chance to create his own legend. Baghdatis, always the life of the party, must have also sensed that something special was about to be created.

Boxing, the sport from which Hewitt draws a fair bit of his inspiration, is known for its ridiculous timeslots. Television demands have meant fights outside of the American time zones have had to be held in the middle of the night. Ricky Hatton, the hero of Manchester, was once asked what it would be like fighting at 2am in the morning in England. "Doesn't bother me," he quipped. "Everyone fights at 2am in the morning in Manchester."

Well, everybody doesn't play tennis at 2am in Melbourne, but there is a sense during this magical fortnight in this extraordinary sporting city, that anything goes. There was supposed to be an 11pm curfew on new matches, but on a Saturday night in January in Melbourne, that was never going to be obeyed.

After all, Australia watches most of its tennis in the middle of the night throughout the year. The tennis fans among us push the envelope to stay up and watch Roland Garros and Wimbledon, and set the alarm nice and early to see what's happening at Flushing Meadows. Whether the fans are in the stands on Rod Laver Arena, at home on the couch, or watching on a silent screen at a pub, this was an opportunity not to be missed. Sunday was meant to be a day of rest anyway.

So those in the stands settled in, those on the couch popped on the kettle for the first of many times for the night and those in the bar ordered another round.

And out walked the two warriors. There was no 'Eye of the Tiger' or the theme from Rocky, but it wouldn't have been out of place. Either would a ring announcer yelling 'Let's Get Ready to RRRRRumble'. (Craig Willis would have done an excellent job in between his stints on AO Radio) It was apparent from the first powerful forehand that this was not going to be a sprint, it was going to be a marathon.

The pair exchanged blows, Baghdatis landing the first set, Hewitt the second. Then drama. Baghdatis rolls his ankle and is in pain. The first knock down, but surely it can't end like this? The tennis world holds it breath. The brave Cypriot is given his equivalent of smelling salts (a spray on his ankle during his medical timeout) and he is resurrected. Dry of throat, a nation switches its kettles back on and the barmen suddenly find themselves busy again. Down in the AO radio bunker, the complimentary Evian does its job. Those in the stands catch a glance at their watches, it's past 2am. Hewitt wins the round.

Hewitt has it all over his opponent in the fourth set. He is ready to land the knockout blow, but can't find a way to end it. The Cypriot refuses to offer a white towel. He stays on his feet, a little unsteady, and his opponent seems to will himself away from the win. We're going the distance.

Hewitt rediscovers his killer instinct and puts his opponent under pressure. Finally he nails it and seals it in the fifth. The two warriors embrace, the rest of us stretch and blink and look at the clock. It's 4:34am.

Open-Hewitt says given no choice over late start

By Simon Cambers

MELBOURNE, Jan 20 (Reuters) - Lleyton Hewitt sadi he and Marcos Baghdatis had no choice but to start their third-round match at the Australian Open just before midnight on Saturday.

The home favourite beat Baghdatis in a titanic battle that did not end until 4.33am local time on Sunday, the latest finish in a grand-slam event, but Hewitt said there was confusion before the match over whether it would take place.

"We didn't really have a choice," Hewitt said. "We had an opinion, but we didn't get a choice."

Roger Federer's match against Janko Tipsarevic went to five sets and the game between Venus Williams and Sania Mirza did not begin until after 9.30pm, two hours later than scheduled.

By the time Williams beat Mirza it was 11.47pm before Hewitt and Baghdatis took to the court, although the Australian said they had originally thought they would be on after top seed Federer won his gruelling match in five sets.

"We actually got told the women's match was getting moved, that we were going to be on pretty much at 9:00," Hewitt said.

"So we sort of rushed off, Marcos and myself, and went and practised and warmed up for about 10 minutes, came back and got told, 'No, the women's is going to stay on'.

NOT EASY

"Going on that late is not easy for anyone, any players, because it throws your whole rhythm and clock out quite a bit.

"We were obviously put out a little bit thinking we were going to go on," he added.

"It's hard to say (if the decision was right). Obviously the tournament has got to look after not only the players' interests but the spectators and everyone, I guess.

Hewitt said he was still unsure whether he would have been better off to have waited until Sunday before playing the match.

"I don't think Marcos and I really knew what was going to be better for whoever won, so that was a tough situation," he said.

"It was funny, because we both said we could be here at 4:00, 5:00 in the morning, and here we are."

Hewitt said he hoped to recover in time to have a chance of beating third seed Novak Djokovic in the fourth round.

"Last year at Wimbledon, when I lost an extremely close match, I thought I nearly had the better of him out there.

"I'll get my opportunities. He's obviously a great player, though, and he plays extremely well on this kind of hard court surface," added Hewitt. "It's going to be another step up."

(Editing by Ken Ferris)

Lleyton Hewitt prevails over Marcos Baghdatis in latest-ever finish

Lleyton Hewitt reached the fourth round of the Australian Open with a marathon five-set win over former finalist Marcos Baghdatis in a match that saw the latest finish in Grand Slam history.

Hewitt won 4-6, 7-5, 7-5, 6-7, 6-3 in four hours 45 minutes and will now face Serbian Novak Djokovic, the third seed, on Monday.

The match, which started just before midnight, finally ended at 4:33am. It eclipsed the previous lastest finish of 3:34am in a first round men's match between Andreas Seppi and Bobby Reynolds at last year's Australian tournament.

"It's one of my best wins mentally to beat him in five sets," Hewitt said.

"It wasn't easy for both of us with the late finish after an incredible day's tennis when Roger Federer was taken so long in his match and it was tough for everybody, but we just tried to put this behind us on court."

The loss ended the 2006 finalist's tournament after he beat former Australian Open champions Thomas Johansson and Marat Safin to reach the third round.

The 19th seeded Hewitt, who lost to Safin in the 2005 final, showed his trademark tenacity to overcome the front-running Baghdatis and live on in the tournament.

There was no discernible crowd reaction to the actions of Baghdatis after he was captured on video chanting anti-Turkish slogans with the Greek supporters' group involved in a clash with police at the Australian Open.

Videos circulating on the internet, showed the Greek Cypriot holding a flare and chanting "Turks Out of Cyprus" at a barbeque hosted by the Hellas Fan Club.

Baghdatis broke Hewitt in the ninth game and clinched the opening set on the second of three set points.

The Cypriot was broken in the fourth game, but was broken back in the 10th game after falling behind 0-40.

Baghdatis again fell behind on serve as he attempted to serve for a tiebreaker and a backhand error allowed Hewitt to level the match.

Baghdatis had a major scare in the opening game of the third set when he twisted his right ankle and needed an injury timeout to have the ankle strapped by a trainer to allow him to continue.

But it didn't seem to affect him and he broke Hewitt in the third to control the set until he lost consecutive serves and handed the Australian the lead when he netted a backhand.

Baghdatis' game fell away in the fourth set and his serve was broken in the second game as the momentum swung right behind Hewitt.

Hewitt led 5-1 but was broken twice and was dragged into a tiebreaker which Baghdatis claimed to send the match into a fifth set.

The Australian again went a service break up in the fifth game and clinched victory on his fifth match point.

High-5s for Federer, Hewitt, Blake at Australian Open

By JOHN PYE, AP Sports Writer
January 19, 2008

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) -- The drama started with a rare five-setter for Roger Federer. Then Lleyton Hewitt carried on almost to dawn.

Day 6 at the Australian Open was a long, long journey. About one-third of the 15,000 people with tickets for Saturday's night session didn't leave until Hewitt smacked a forehand past Marcos Baghdatis at 4:33 a.m. Sunday.

Federer needed 4 hours, 27-minutes to beat No. 49-ranked Janko Tipsarevic 6-7 (5), 7-6 (1), 5-7, 6-1, 10-8 in an extended afternoon match that pushed back the night session at least two hours.

Federer had won 30 straight sets at Melbourne Park since dropping the first in the 2006 final against Baghdatis. He had lost only six games in his first two matches this year.

"It's not such a relief -- it's more happiness," Federer told the crowd at the Rod Laver Arena, where he has won three Australian titles including the last two. "I'm happy I could deliver a five-set thriller. It was good to be part of something like this."

Wedged between epic five-setters, Venus Williams finished off Sania Mirza in straight sets after declining an invitation to either postpone that match or move to Vodafone Arena, the other stadium with a roof at Melbourne Park.

So when Hewitt tossed the ball up for his first serve it was 11:47 p.m. -- the latest start for a singles match at the Australian Open. He broke Baghdatis on his fifth match point 4:45 later to win 4-6, 7-5, 7-5, 6-7 (4), 6-3.

"Obviously, an incredible day of tennis," Hewitt said, sounding hoarse and tired. "I mean, for Roger Federer to go five sets -- how often does that happen?"

Hewitt jokes that his 2-year-old daughter, Mia, would be awake and ready to play when he got back to his apartment.

Hewitt next plays No. 3 Novak Djokovic, who ousted Sam Querrey 6-3, 6-1, 6-3 to leave James Blake as the best U.S. hope at the Open.

Blake rallied from two sets down and then a double-break in the fourth to beat veteran Frenchman Sebastien Grosjean 4-6, 2-6, 6-0, 7-6 (5), 6-2.

"That's got to be my biggest comeback," Blake said, referring to his second victory after nine straight losses in five-set matches. "Just seemed like every time there was a mountain to climb ... couldn't have been a better feeling than to accomplish what I did."

Next up is 6-foot-5 Marin Cilic, a 6-2, 6-7 (4), 6-3, 6-1 winner over last year's losing finalist, Fernando Gonzalez.

Rain caused matches on outside courts to be postponed Saturday, and third-round matches will start first on the show courts Sunday.

No. 10 David Nalbandian plays former No. 1-ranked Juan Carlos Ferrero and No. 5 David Ferrer is against American Vincent Spadea.

In fourth-round matches, No. 2 Nadal faces Paul-Henri Mathieu, Frenchmen Richard Gasquet and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga go head-to-head, and Philipp Kohlschreiber, who upset Andy Roddick in the third round, plays Finland's Jarkko Nieminen. No. 4 Nikolay Davydenko and No. 14 Mikhail Youzhny meet in a match between Russians.

Two of the Russia's top women lost Saturday. No. 2 Svetlana Kuznetsova fell 6-3, 6-4 to 18-year-old Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland and No. 6 Anna Chakvetadze was beaten 6-7 (6), 6-1, 6-2 by No. 27 Maria Kirilenko.

No. 4 Ana Ivanovic advanced 6-3, 6-4 victory over No. 28 Katarina Srebotnik and No. 8 Venus Williams recovered an early break to beat Mirza of India 7-6 (0), 6-4.

Her sister, defending Australian Open champion Serena Williams, takes on Nicole Vaidisova on Sunday in a rematch of last year's semifinals.

No. 1 Justin Henin meets Hsieh Su-wei -- the first Taiwanese to make the fourth round of a major -- and 2007 runner-up Maria Sharapova plays No. 11 Elena Dementieva in an all-Russian match.

Federer said his five-setter would give him a good idea of where he stands as he bids to make an 11th consecutive Grand Slam final. A title would move him within one of Pete Sampras' record 14 majors.

"I don't have them often, except at Wimbledon against Nadal," said Federer, who needed every one of his personal best 39 aces to fend off the 2001 Australian Open junior champion. "So it's good."

In 35 majors, Federer is 9-4 in matches that have gone five sets. He's 2-3 at Melbourne Park three rounds into his ninth Australian Open. Overall, he's 11-10 in five-setters.

His last five-set match at Melbourne, a semifinal defeat to Marat Safin in 2005, broke up his titles in '04, '06 and '07.

Federer said he feared another early exit when he missed some chances, starting with a shot at serving for the first set at 5-3.

Tipsarevic went on the attack from that point, stepping into Federer's serves and ripping winners off both sides.

"All the opportunities missed put me in a lot of pressure," Federer said. "I was back against the wall and I was playing a guy who's confident and believes in his chance. But I tried to sort of block that out when I entered the fifth set, and I was happy I really served well and didn't give him much opportunity."

Hewitt wasted chances, including a match point in the eighth game of the fourth set.

After letting a 5-1 lead slip in the fourth set, Hewitt ensured he'd pass the record for the latest finishing match at a major when he held for a 6-5 lead at 3:34 a.m. -- the same time Italy's Andreas Seppi finished off Bobby Reynolds in a 6-1, 6-7 (4), 6-7 (5), 7-6 (3), 6-3 match in the first round in Australia last year.

He broke Baghdatis twice in the fifth, the second after the Cypriot saved triple match point and was laughing almost deliriously with each.

"That's why I dream -- for matches like this," Baghdatis said. "It's a pleasure ... even losing it."

He just missed becoming the first man at the Australian Open to beat three Grand Slam champions in consecutive rounds. He opened with wins over two former Australian champions -- Thomas Johansson (2002) and Safin.

Hewitt ranked the win among his best in a career that includes U.S. Open and Wimbledon titles.

"Tonight is definitely up there," he said. "Marcos has beaten two Grand Slam winners in his first rounds. He hasn't had an easy draw to get through at all. He's a tough guy to finish off."

Open-Hewitt survives collapse to beat Baghdatis in epic

By Simon Cambers

MELBOURNE, Jan 20 (Reuters) - Home favourite Lleyton Hewitt survived a stunning collapse in the early hours of Sunday morning to beat Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis 4-6 7-5 7-5 6-7 6-3 in a titanic third-round clash at the Australian Open.

In a match that ended at 4.33am, the latest finish at a grand-slam event, Hewitt blew a 5-1 lead in the fourth set and a match point at 5-2 but recovered to win the decider and line up a meeting with third seed Novak Djokovic of Serbia.

Baghdatis, the 2006 runner-up, eased through the first set but Hewitt levelled and came from 5-3 down to win the third set before storming ahead 5-1 in the fourth.

After failing to serve out, 19th seed Hewitt forced a match point at 5-2 but then collapsed horribly as Baghdatis took the set on the tiebreak.

Somehow, though, the Australian recovered his poise, breaking in the fifth game of the decider and holding on for victory after four hours, 45 minutes. (Editing by Ed Osmond)

Lleyton: start me up

Linda Pearce Jan 18

A RESERVATION is usually made for Lleyton Hewitt on the Australian Open's middle Saturday night, but not since the finals year of 2005 has his stay extended past that, the third round.

Hewitt welcomes, once again, the starring role in prime-time that tomorrow will be his, even if his preferred night as a leading man remains Sunday week.

Having survived day four, Hewitt declared that his tournament had just begun.

Behind him were two should-have-won matches against players ranked 83rd and 216th, which he negotiated for the loss of one set.

Ahead are a string of more challenging contests against opponents whose quality will rise by the round.

"I feel good. This is where the tournament starts, now," Hewitt said after a not-wholly-convincing 7-6 (7-5), 6-3, 5-7, 6-1 defeat of Uzbekistan wildcard Denis Istomin on Rod Laver Arena booked him a place in the third round for the fifth year out of the past six.

Hewitt then retired to his palatial St Kilda Road apartment, where he admitted he "might have a little bit of a look" at some of the match between his two potential Saturday night opponents, Marcos Baghdatis and Marat Safin.

Not that Hewitt has anything much to learn about the pair of talented shot-makers, declaring consistency to be the big issue for both.

In that regard, right now, Hewitt makes three.

"Not too bad" was Hewitt's assessment of his early Open form. "I've got to worry about my game, and executing what I want to do, staying aggressive. I know that I can compete against both those guys at my best."

Yet he was not in that vicinity yesterday, lacking the confidence and sharpness of his first-round doddle against Belgium's Steve Darcis. "If I play like that, then I'm going to give anyone trouble, I think," Hewitt said of his form against Darcis. And if he plays as he did against Istomin? Let us answer that one: toodle-oo.

With the new Roche-coached Hewitt apparently still a work in progress, it is hard to know whether the finished work will end up more John Brack or Pro Hart. No one will mind terribly, as long as the result is bold and striking; it is when Hewitt is cautious and tentative that teeth are gnashed in frustration.

But Hewitt is still talking a good game, refusing to concede that his confidence was diminished by the loss of a set to a relative novice, albeit one whose game he struggled to read, and whose first serve held up admirably in the important moments. "I feel confident. I'm through to the third round. It's a matter of surviving the first week as much as possible. I'm getting there so far," Hewitt insisted. "If you can survive the first week, put yourself in a position in the second week, you never know how many doors open up for you."

Hewitt must have had one foot in the shower when he served for the match at 5-4 in the third set, only to lose the next three games and be pushed to afourth.

So it was that the 19th seed spent considerably longer on court than he should have done.

One element that most pleased coach Tony Roche during Tuesday's 77-minute demolition of Darcis was that Hewitt is "not spending that much time out on the court". Make that past tense.

"It was just a little bit of a lapse of concentration there late in the third set," Hewitt said, lamenting his inability to convert 15-40 into a service break in the opening game, or to take another chance in the third. His next opening did not come until the 10th game, and if Hewitt was clearly the better player, Istomin was holding his own on the scoreboard.

Only when Istomin finally dumped a forehand into the net at 30-40 was Hewitt's nostril in front for the first time, but he immediately handed back the advantage in a sign that not all is quite yet as he would like.

The Australian eked out a 7-5 win in the tie-breaker, but there were some worrying signs, personified by a forehand sitter missed at 5-4. Had he been playing a better-credentialled opponent than Istomin, it may have been awfully costly.

The second set was better, and took almost half the time, and despite a dubious medical timeout called by a tiring Istomin at the end of it, most signs pointed to a reasonably routine finish in the third until the lapse at 5-4.

Indeed, the three sets Istomin won in Tuesday's opening round against Slovak Lukas Lacko were his first at grand slam level, but perhaps he might ultimately treasure the fourth, yesterday, most of all.

It is not often that a battler from Uzbekistan wins anything from a former No. 1 and dual grand slam champion on Rod Laver Arena, so it was a moment to savour, even if the result, ultimately, was not.

Lleyton looking vulnerable in victory

Jake Niall
January 18, 2008

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LLEYTON Hewitt's career is a monument to mind conquering man's vulnerabilities. Perennial predictions of his decline and fall always centred on what he didn't have: size, power and the capacity to win quick, easy points.

More than his return of serve or court speed, the Hewitt mind was what made him. Yesterday, as he eked out an unimpressive, four-set victory over the world No. 216, Uzbekistani Denis Istomin, it seemed that, strangely, the Hewitt mind was not at full-strength.

That's not to say it was suspect. Hewitt is congenitally incapable of flakiness of the kind that afflicted Mark Philippoussis. The difference between Hewitt Heavy and Lleyton Light, in terms of mental strength, is subtle. Some indecision and caution, where once there was strident self-belief. One shakey shot per game, perhaps.

One detected a touch of anxiety, here and there � what tennis types call "tightening up".

If we can't read a player's mind, one can see signs of vulnerability, or volatility. Unusually, Hewitt showed more of the former than the latter.

Seemingly lacking confidence and flow, Hewitt played with excessive caution, like a footballer in his first few games after a knee reconstruction. He wasn't sharp. His concentration wandered.

This should not surprise. Injuries restricted Hewitt to only 51 matches last year; in 2001, as the world No. 1, he played 98. He is fit, not match hardened. He excelled in his first match, struggled yesterday; consistency � another Hewitt hallmark � is not yet evident.

Yesterday's performance was more defensive, less offensive, than the aggressive game style Tony Roche promised when the famed Australian coach took over the Hewitt reclamation project last August. Hewitt's worst moments, especially in the third set, were marked by a safety-first approach.

His conservatism emboldened Istomin, who, judged by rankings and record, played much closer to his peak than Hewitt.

Hewitt's best and most attacking tennis came late, in the fourth set, after the insult of conceding a set to the world's 216th player. He can only hope that he begins his next match as he finished the last; otherwise it will be his last at this Open.

Afterwards, Hewitt played the media as he does all opponents � not conceding on any points. He did not think he'd played so bad and was generous in his assessment of Istomin, who played "a pretty good match". Istomin was a veritable menacing Denis.

Hewitt was not self-critical. He had "played pretty well" in that first set, which went to a tie break (in which the eventual score was 7-5). "I just wasn't quite reading where he was going."

Hewitt would not even allow that he would need to improve significantly to progress, given the step up in class. "It's a different kind of match. You know, I know that I can compete against both of those guys at my best."

The most he would acknowledge, on the negative side of the ledger, was that he had "a couple of lapses in concentration" late in the third set. But these lapses were "only a couple of points" and were not caused by his limited match play in 2007.

His confidence, he said, was not at all diminished by what happened yesterday. "I feel confident. Yeah, I'm through to the third round. It's a matter of surviving the first week as much as possible. I'm getting there so far."

"Surviving" is the revealing word. It carried a recognition that difficulties lay ahead, and perhaps, that, from here on, the draw is challenging.

"I feel good. This is where the tournament starts now," he told centre court.

Or where it ends. Not for the first or last time in the career of Lleyton Hewitt, the betting is against him.

Hewitt's dream lives on

Thursday, 17 January, 2008
By Adam Lucius

Lleyton Hewitt's hopes of making it through to the last week of the Australian Open are alive after the local favourite successfully fought off Denis Istomin in a second round battle on Rod Laver Arena.

In a titanic tussle between the crowd favourite and the little-known Istomin, Hewitt took more than three hours to put the Uzbek away 7-6 (7-5) 6-3 5-7 6-1 to the delight of the pro-Australian crowd.

The former world No. 1 will meet either Marcos Baghdatis or Marat Safin in the third round.

Hewitt won the first set against Istomin in a tiebreaker and looked headed for a straight sets win when he comfortably won the second 6-3.

But he handed back the advantage when he surrendered a 5-4 advantage in the third and allowed the Uzbek to steal the set.

It gave Istomin a way back into the match when he had looked dead and buried

But Hewitt found another gear, recovering to win the fourth set 6-1 to keep his Australian Open dream alive.

Hewitt headlines Day 4 battles

Wednesday, 16 January, 2008
By Adam Lucius

Local hopeful Lleyton Hewitt will go in 'sight unseen' against second round opponent Denis Istomin in one of the feature matches on day four of the Australian Open at Melbourne Park.

The two-time Grand Slam winner has never seen the unseeded Uzbek play before and admits to knowing nothing of him.

Since his comfortable first round win over Steve Darcis, the Australian has been searching for information on Istomin.

"I just know he won in four sets (in the first round). 'Rochey' (coach Tony Roche) and I will do our homework, though," Hewitt said.

"We'll know a fair bit about the guy before we go on."

Hewitt will meet Istomin, ranked 216 in the world, in the last of the scheduled day session matches on Rod Laver Arena.

Their clash will be preceded by Roger Federer's second appearance of the tournament, the world No.1 and top seed to take on French veteran Fabrice Santoro.

Santoro, whose age (35) shaves his world ranking by one, passed Andre Agassi's record for most appearances in Grand Slams (62) when he took on and beat John Isner in the opening round.

He claims a centre court date with Federer is a 'dream' match, even though it will almost certainly end his 16th Australian Open campaign.

"I said my dream is to play Federer second or third round in Melbourne, so when I look at the draw I said 'wow, I have this tall guy (Isner) first and hopefully I can go through and play Roger because I'm not going to play that long in the future, and I want to have the chance to play against Federer once, twice.

"I'm very happy. I will have 48 hours to think about it, to set a little bit my game, to recover and be 100 per cent on the court."

Russian Marat Safin's clash with Marcos Baghdatis looms as an intriguing encounter between two of the real characters of the men's game.

On Vodafone Arena, another genuine personality in Novak Djokovic takes on Italian Simone Bolelli before Argentina's David Nalbandian meets Aussie battler Peter Luczak.

James Blake (v Michael Russell), Juan Carlos Ferrero (v Alun Jones), David Ferrer (v Juan Martin Del Potro) and 2007 Australian Open finalist Fernado Gonzalez (v Hyung-Taik Lee) all feature in day four action.

In the women's singles, Bulgaria's Tsvetana Pironkova has the daunting task of trying to stop No. 2 seed Svetlana Kuznetsova on centre court.

Unlike Hewitt, Kuznetsova has done the homework on her 20-year-old opponent, ranked 97 in the world.

"I know my next opponent, I'm looking at my next opponent," she said.

"I'm just like that.

"But I'm not watching the draw. I have no clue who is where."

Fourth seed Ana Ivanovic is up against Tathiana Garbin; eighth seed Venus Williams takes on Camille Pin; Daniela Hantuchova squares off with Alize Cornet and Anna Chakvetadze will be favoured to beat compatriot Alisa Kleybanova.

Impressive Hewitt breezes through

LLEYTON HEWITT steamed into the second round of the Australian Open today with a highly impressive straight-sets win over Belgian Steve Darcis.

Hewitt, the Open's 2005 runner-up and seeded 19th this year, crushed Darcis 6-0 6-3 6-0 in just 77 minutes at Melbourne Park's Rod Laver Arena.

The South Australian will next play either Uzbekistan's Denis Istomin, the Asian wildcard recipient ranked No.216 in the world, or Slovakian Lukas Lacko on Thursday for a place in the last 32.

A disappointing second-round loser in both Adelaide and Sydney in the previous two weeks, former world No.1 Hewitt made a lightning start today, dropping just nine points to take the opening set in 23 minutes.

He continued the assault in the second set, breaking the world No.83's serve to go up 3-1.

Hewitt lapsed briefly to drop his serve the next game for the only time in the match.

But he immediately broke back to go 4-2 up and then broke the Belgian's service four more times in a confident start to his 12th Open campaign.

�It was good. I hadn't never played him before and hadn't seen a lot of him,� Hewitt said.

�This time last year he was 400 in the world and now he's top 80 so he's obviously playing well. But I felt like I dictated from the start and that's what I needed to do.

Hewitt said he had benefited from the tough practice workload imposed by new coach Tony Roche.

�We got a lot of good hard hitting on the practice court,� he said.

�Rochey is a very tough taskmaster and it's very hard to please him.�

Hewitt No.1 was also complimentary about the new Plexicushion surface which has replaced Rebound Ace.

�It's a matter of trying to get a more consistent court across the board and right across Australia,� he said.

�Hopefully this is going to be a court which we can develop a lot of juniors on.�

AAP

Hewitt in a confident mood

Sunday, 13 January, 2008
By Luke Buttigieg

2005 finalist Lleyton Hewitt says his draw at Australian Open 2008 is no tougher than it was 12 months earlier despite the possibility of a third-round clash with either Marat Safin or Marcos Baghdatis.

Speaking at Melbourne Park on tournament eve, the 26-year-old told reporters that at this stage his thoughts are consumed solely by his first-round encounter with Belgian Steve Darcis rather than what might lie ahead if he gets to the round of 32.

"You can't take anyone lightly," Hewitt said. "Darcis, he had a big year last year, especially on the challenger circuit. He won an ATP event as well on clay. You know, it's going to be a guy I think I can work my way into the match and get a lot of rhythm."

"You know, for the draw ahead, there's a long way to go before I have to worry about the big names just yet. Well, at the moment I'm just trying, you know, trying to get through my first match and get through the first week."

"Those guys (Safin and Baghdatis) have got to take care of each other. They're not in the easiest section for those two to play each other, if they both get through in the second round."

"Yeah, last year I played (Fernando) Gonzalez in the third round here. He went all the way to the final, so I probably couldn't have gotten a much tougher third round last year. Probably won't be as tough as that."

Having played five competitive matches in the lead-up to the tournament, in Adelaide and then Sydney, Hewitt is confident of a strong showing at an event he probably covets more than any other having already won the US Open and Wimbledon.

But like most players as experienced as he is he knows that one of the keys to winning a Grand Slam tournament is to try and get through the first week as fresh as possible and then look to launch in the second seven days.

"Yeah, the body's been feeling really good the last couple of months. Yeah, you need a little bit of luck in any Grand Slam to win it, I think," Hewitt added.

"Yeah, for me right at the moment, it's just a matter of trying to survive the first week. If I put myself in a position deep in the second week, I've got as good a chance as anyone."

With Tennis Australia switching from the Rebound Ace surface of previous years to the blue Plexicushion this year, Hewitt has given the thumbs up to the new court after spending plenty of time practicing on it.

"Yeah, it's played pretty similar the whole time I think," he said. "It hasn't varied too much. You know, today (Sunday) I hit indoors with the roof closed. The last couple of days, the weather was hot, the first day that I hit here, then a bit cooler the last couple."

"It hasn't changed too much. I'm happy with the speed of it. I feel pretty confident that I can go out and compete."

As for the limited preparation that world number one Roger Federer has had because of illness, Hewitt doesn't believe the three-time Norman Brookes Challenge Cup winner will be any easier to beat this year.

"He played late November. He won the Masters Cup in pretty good fashion, especially the semi and final there. You know, Roger didn't play any matches on grass before Wimbledon this year (2007) after losing the final of French," Hewitt added.

"Yeah, he's that good a player that he can work his way into the tournament over the first couple of rounds and get confident and maybe not play his best tennis in the first couple of rounds, but he'll still be able to get through. I don't think it's going to affect him a whole lot."