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[VIDEO] Lleyton Hewitt vs Benjamin Becker highlights: 2015 Australian Open scores, blog

Roar Guru
22nd January, 2015
Time: 7.00pm AEDT
Venue: Rod Laver Arena
History: Hewitt 2, Becker 0
Last meeting: Hewitt 6-7, 7-6, 6-2; Halle 2010
TV: Live Channel Seven
Betting: Hewitt $1.80, Becker $2.01
(AAP Image/Joe Castro)
Roar Guru
22nd January, 2015
183
2180 Reads

Match Result

scoreline: Becker 2-6, 1-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-2

Becker with an ace and he completes a superb comeback to defeat Hewitt in five sets here. It was all Hewitt in the opening two sets and the third round was well within reach. Becker though never gave up and his forehand and serve eventually fired to help him secure an epic win. Hewitt loses for the first time at the Aus Open from two sets to love up. This will be hard to take for the two time grand slam champion.

Match preview

Lleyton Hewitt starts a slight favourite against Germany’s Benjamin Becker but a tight contest should be expected as both players vie for a third-round Australian Open berth. Join The Roar for live scores and commentary from around 7:00pm AEDT.

After a very shaky start on serve against Ze Zhang, Hewitt eventually calmed his nerves and played solid tennis en route to a four-set win over the promising Chinese player.

There are several concerns though that Hewitt needs to address if he hopes to get past the big-serving Becker.

The biggest is undoubtedly the serve. The two-time Grand Slam champion struggled severely with his ball toss throughout the match against Zhang, particularly in his first service game of the match.

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At times Hewitt was just spinning the first serve in and he can ill afford to do that against Becker. The German is a more solid player than Zhang and he will punish any weak serving.

Hewitt’s other concern is the fact that he has a major power deficit against most players on the ATP tour. When Zhang hit form in the second set, Hewitt was practically powerless to stop the Chinese player from levelling the match at a set apiece.

Indeed the primary reason Hewitt was able to outlast Zhang surrounded the Chinese player’s very high unforced error count. Given Becker’s experience on the tour, you don’t expect the German to produce such numbers.

Hewitt however remains a workhorse on tour and will give everything he has in front of another vocal home crowd. Becker has the bigger forehand and serve though and it should win him a couple of sets.

Hewitt’s experience and ability to stay in rallies for the long haul however may just prove enough to outlast the German in a five-set epic.

Hewitt in five sets.

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