Thursday, April 8, 2010

Hewitt escapes fate of defeat in Houston

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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