Hewitt, Murray Advance in Melbourne
Playing in the final tournament of his career, Australian Lleyton Hewitt guaranteed himself at least one more match in the career, knocking off his compatriot James Duckworth 7-6(5), 6-2, 6-4 to advance into the second-round at the Australian Open.
After taking the opening set in a tiebreaker, Hewitt broke Duckworth twice in each of the final two sets to cruise in straight sets.
“I felt pretty good,” said Hewitt. “I was pretty pumped up before I went on. I think I was able to block out everything else once I was out there. I think I had my game face on. It might have been in the back of my mind a couple of times, but I was focused, ready and competitive to get out there and hopefully get past the line.”
Hewitt admitted heading into this match that it would be an “awkward” one, as he has been a key figure early on in Duckworth’s career and will be the captain of Australia’s Davis Cup team going forward. But the 34-year old put all that aside to put together an excellent performance and advance.
In the second-round, the 2005 finalist will take on eighth-seeded Spaniard David Ferrer, who won in straight sets against Germany’s Peter Gojowczyk.
Andy Murray dispatched German teenager Alexander Zverev in his first-round matchup 6-1, 6-2, 6-3.
“It got tough at the end,” said Murray. “A lot of long games and rallies and Alex fought right through to the last point, so that made it very competitive at the end. It was obviously tough conditions today; it started to get very hot when the clouds went away, so I was glad to get it done in straight sets.”
Murray will square off against Australia’s Sam Groth in the second round. Groth defeated France’s Adrian Mannarino 7-6(6), 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 on Tuesday.
Bernard Tomic came back from a set down to defeat Uzbekistan’s Denis Istomin 6-7(4), 6-4, 6-4, 6-4, and will take on Italy’s Simone Bolelli next.
Bolelli defeated American Brian Baker, who was playing in his first match in almost two and a half years, 7-6(6), 7-6(3), 6-7(2), 7-6(5).
Serbia’s Viktor Troicki fought back from two sets down to knock off Spain’s Daniel Munoz de la Nava 4-6, 4-6, 6-1, 7-6(4), 6-3 and advance to the second-round. The 21st seed will face off with American Tim Smyczek next. Smyczek defeated Spain’s Daniel Gimeno-Traver 6-1, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 to book his spot in the second round.
American Rajeev Ram pulled off one of the bigger upsets of the first round in Melbourne, defeating 11th seed and fellow University of Illinois alum Kevin Anderson. Ram led Anderson 7-6(4), 6-7(4), 6-3, 3-0 before Anderson retired.
Ram will play France’s Stephane Robert, who defeated American Bjorn Fratangelo 6-2, 6-2, 6-2.
Stan Wawrinka, 2014 Aussie Open champion, only had to play two sets to earn his spot in the second round as he led Russia’s Dmitry Tursunov 7-6(2), 6-3 before the Russian retired. Wawrinka will take on Czech Republic’s Radek Stepanek next. Stepanek hung on to beat Japan’s Tatsuma Ito 6-4, 6-3, 6-7(5), 6-2.
