Defending champion Lleyton Hewitt battled back from the brink of defeat Thursday at the US Men’s Clay Court Championship, overcoming Indian lucky loser Somdev Devvarman 1-6, 6-0, 7-6(2) in his second-round opening match at the ATP World Tour 250 tournament in Houston.
Former World No. 1 Hewitt made an impressive turnaround in the second set as he lost just two points total, but two-time NCAA singles champion Devvarman put forth a stronger challenge in the decisive set.
The World No. 116 twice recovered a break of serve, including one in the ninth game with Hewitt holding the match on his racquet, and then earned his own opportunity to serve out the match at 6-5. Hewitt fought off elimination with another service break, and then clinched the win in the tie-break as he reeled off the final six points.
The 27-year-old Hewitt had been sidelined since the Australian Open after undergoing surgery on his right hip, and made his return to the courts Tuesday with a first-round doubles victory. He had opened the 2010 season with as quarter-final run in Sydney (l. to Baghdatis) and fourth-round showing in Melbourne (l. to Federer).
Third-seeded American Sam Querrey had no troubles in his opener, taking one hour to dismiss Slovenian Blaz Kavcic 6-2, 6-1 as he broke his opponent four times from six chances. It was his first win in Houston after first-round losses in 2007 and ’08. Querrey will next face Chilean Nicolas Massu, who handed him his most recent loss at this tournament.
Sixth-seeded Argentine Horacio Zeballos, the 2009 ATP Newcomer of the Year, eased through to the quarter-finals with a 6-3, 6-2 win over Dudi Sela in 53 minutes. Meanwhile, American Wayne Odesnik converted four of his 16 break chances to defeat Kazakhstan’s Mikhail Kukushkin 6-1, 7-5.
Thursday, 8 April 2010
Singles - Second Round
[1] F Gonzalez (CHI) vs [Q] K Anderson (RSA)
X Malisse (BEL) vs [2] J Isner (USA)
[3] S Querrey (USA) d B Kavcic (SLO) 62 61
[4] [WC] L Hewitt (AUS) d [LL] S Devvarman (IND) 16 60 76(2)
[6] H Zeballos (ARG) d D Sela (ISR) 63 62
W Odesnik (USA) d M Kukushkin (KAZ) 61 75
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