Rd 3 defeated Jarkko Nieminen 1-6 6-3 7-5 6-2

AUSTRALIA'S Lleyton Hewitt set up a French Open showdown with world No.2 Rafael Nadal after disposing of Jarkko Nieminen in the third round today. Hewitt, the No.14 seed, came back from a set down to beat the 20th-seeded Finn 1-6 6-3 7-5 6-2 in two hours and 58 minutes. Hewitt will play Nadal - who had an easy 6-1 6-3 6-2 win over fellow Spaniard Albert Montanes today - in the fourth round on Monday night.
And while Hewitt had been on track to meet the two-time defending champion throughout the tournament, he was adamant he had not yet given it much thought.

"Now I'll put all my focus on Nadal and see what I can come up with," he said.

Hewitt took time to get going against the Finn, who was mixing up his pace and shots well. Nieminen broke Hewitt in the fourth and sixth games of the match to find himself serving for the first set, which he won when Hewitt sent a return into the net.

"It just didn't feel sharp at the start," Hewitt said. "He's a tough player though because he doesn't give you a lot of cheap points. "He was serving well too, which was putting pressure on my service games. "I didn't come out of the blocks fast."

Hewitt had to fight to hold his serve in the opening game of the second set and was broken on his next service game.
The Australian broke back immediately however to lock the set up at two games all and, once back on a level footing, the 26-year-old baseliner seemed to lift. He broke Nieminen in the eighth game for a 5-3 lead and the chance to serve for the set. Hewitt took set point with a sharp volley and then worked his opponent all over the baseline before sending down a forehand winner. With games going on serve in the third set, Hewitt vented some frustration at himself when he sent a couple of shots long in the seventh game. He finally broke Nieminen in the 11th game when he converted his second break point and after a tense battle, won the following game when Nieminen hit a forehand into the net to take 2-1 lead.

Hewitt broke Nieminen in the third game of the fourth set. When he saved break point in the sixth, the South Australian was clearly pumped and he sealed the game with an ace.

Hewitt broke Nieminen again in the seventh game, allowing him to serve for the match. The Finn was not ready to give up, but, after what seemed like a marathon game, Hewitt sealed victory when Nieminen netted a backhand.

Rd 2 defeated Gaston Gaudio 4-6, 3-6, 6-2, 6-4, 6-2

Lleyton Hewitt rallied from two sets down for the fourth time in his career Thursday and beat 2004 champion Gaston Gaudio 4-6, 3-6, 6-2, 6-4, 6-2 in the second round of the French Open.

Hewitt, a two-time Grand Slam champion, missed two months because of a back injury and returned at the Rome Masters in early May. He broke his Argentine opponent in the third and seventh games of the third set, and then again to open each of the two remaining sets.

"He's got to be one of the toughest second-round players to play," said Hewitt, who lost to Gaudio in the 2004 French Open quarterfinals. "The first two sets he played fantastic."

Two-time defending champion Rafael Nadal also advanced, extending his record at Roland Garros to 16-0. Maria Sharapova, Serena Williams and Amelie Mauresmo won in the women's draw.

Hewitt made 25 unforced errors in the first two sets, but limited that to 19 in the final three. He also had 20 aces, while Gaudio double-faulted 13 times.

"I felt like I had a lot of opportunities to go up a break in the first set," Hewitt said.

The 14th-seeded Australian stayed on course for a fourth-round rematch with Nadal, who wasted little time in beating Flavio Cipolla of Italy 6-2, 6-1, 6-4. Hewitt lost to the second-ranked Spaniard at the same stage last year.

Hewitt has won the U.S. Open and Wimbledon and reached the final at the Australian Open. He has made the quarterfinals twice at the French Open, the last time losing to eventual champion Gaudio in 2004.

Gaudio, who had reached the third round in Paris for five straight years, has won consecutive matches this year only once.

Rd 1 defeated Man Mirnyi 6-3 6-1 6-3

Former world No 1 Lleyton Hewitt has crushed Max Mirnyi of Belarus 6-3 6-1 6-3 in the first round of the French Open and said he believed he had an outside chance of winning the title for the first time.

The Australian, who has never been beyond the last eight in Paris, returned superbly on his way to an impressive victory.

"If you look at my results at the other three majors I've won two out of the three, made a final in the other one, came awfully close," Hewitt said.

"Roger (Federer)'s been a stand-out on three of the grand slams and (Rafael) Nadal here. They're definitely the guys to beat.

"(But), the last few weeks, I've been putting in the hard yards. I'd like to think I've still got a crack at it."

Hewitt has lost to the eventual champion three times (2000, 2004 and 2006). Nadal is a likely fourth-round opponent – as last year – but Hewitt pushed the Spaniard hard in Hamburg earlier this month before yielding 7-5 in the deciding set.

"I played well against him here last year, and I felt like I had pretty much no preparation coming into this tournament, and I had a dodgy ankle," he said.

"I played a great first set (in Hamburg), put pressure on him, and it turned into a dogfight in the end. It could have gone either way, those few points to go into a tiebreak, third set.

"It definitely gives me confidence. He's been the stand-out claycourt player over the last three years. Not many guys have come that close to him either."

In round two, though, Hewitt faces 2004 champion, Argentine Gaston Gaudio, who came into Roland Garros having won just five matches this year.

"Out of all the unseeded guys, he's probably as tough as it gets, in this grand slam," Hewitt said.

"We've had a lot of tough matches in the past on this surface and I lost to him the year that he won. So it won't be an easy match."