The Roar
The Roar

Advertisement

Never say die Lleyton, and welcome Nick Krygios

(AAP Image/Joe Castro)
Expert
24th June, 2014
8

Lleyton Hewitt, the benchmark of Australian tennis for the last 14 years, moved into the second round at Wimbledon overnight in his 16th appearance.

The little Aussie battler, with a heart bigger than Phar Lap, wore down Poland’s Michal Przysiezny 6-2 6-7 6-1 6-4 in a tick over three hours.

Now 33, and in the twilight of his outstanding career, the 2002 Wimbledon champion was overpowered by the Pole, but his renowned tenacity did the trick.

Hewitt’s serve has long been his Achilles heel, and that was again the case last night.

Przysiezny served at 119mph compared to Hewitt’s 102, and the Pole had every shot in the book on both wings, ranging from powerhouse to soft hands.

Yet Hewitt won 148 points to 119, and made only 20 unforced errors to 65. Przysiezny cracked 54 winners to 37.

The other stat that could have been damaging was Hewitt’s inability to convert 11 of his 19 break points. Against better players than would be lethal.

Next up for Hewitt another Pole – 15th seed Jerzy Janowicz – who was a losing semi-finalist in 2013.

Advertisement

Hewitt was one of seven Australians who won their first rounds, the best start at Wimbledon for 15 years.

The other six – Marinko Matosevic, Bernard Tomic, Luke Saville, and Nick Kyrgios in the men’s, and Jarmila Gajosova, and Casey Dellacqua in the women’s.

Kyrgios’ serving was his winning weapon with 29 aces, third only in the first round to Ivo Karlovic’s 32, and Milos Raonic’s 30.

How Lleyton Hewitt would dearly love a stat like that, instead of his eight.

But special mention must be made of 22-year-old Australian James Duckworth in his Wimbledon debut. He took 13th seed Richard Gasquet, the very talented Frenchman, to five sets.

Of the others, world number one Rafael Nadal took four sets to beat Martin Klizan from Slovakia, seeded 51 in the world. Nadal’s 25 unforced errors had a fair bit to do with his battle.

Not so with Roger Federer and Serena Williams, by far the most successful at Wimbledon among the current players.

Advertisement

Federer’s won seven. and his effortless 6-1 6-1 6-3 win last night was his 69th in his 17th appearance, compared to just eight losses.

Williams has won five Wimbledons. and last night cruised home 6-1 6-2 for her 71st win in 17 appearances, compared to only nine losses.

But the player I suggest Roarers watch from here on in is Bulgaria’s Grigor Dimitrov.

This 23-year-old has every shot in the book, a strong serve, and is equally at home on the baseline, or at the net.

Last week he won Queens in the lead-up to Wimbledon, and beat the very promising American Ryan Harrison in straight sets last Monday in Round 1.

This bloke can play.

And for good measure he happens to be Maria Sharapova’s boyfriend.

Advertisement
close