HEWITT DEFEATS ROSOL

Lleyton Hewitt has defeated Lukas Rosol of Czech Republic in the opening round of the BNP Paribas Open. Hewitt won the match by 6-4, 3-6, 6-1.

It took Hewitt 95 minutes to get better of Rosol. This was Hewitt’s first match against Rosol.

Talking to the reporters after securing victory in the match, Hewitt said, “It was quite chilly out there and the conditions were definitely not ideal for tennis. In the opening set, I had the opportunity of getting a breakthrough early, but, I lost that chance. Fortunately, that didn’t cost much and I managed to get a breakthrough in the 7^th game which won me the set”

“In the second set, I served really badly. My return shots were also pretty loose and Lukas took advantage of that. In the final set, I was looking for an early breakthrough which I managed to get. Thereafter, I got more confident and played aggressive tennis for the rest of the match.”

In the first set, the first six games went with the serve. Hewitt broke Rosol’s serve in the 7^th game and then, got ahead by 5-3 by serving out the next game.

Rosol decreased the lead to 4-5 by holding his serve in the 9^th game. It was necessary for Rosol to get a breakthrough in the next game in order to take the set further, but, Hewitt didn’t let that happen. He held his serve and finished the opening set in style.

In the second set, Rosol started in a blistering way and won 5 out of the first 6 games with a couple of breakthroughs. However, he dropped his serve in the 7^th game and then, a serve hold by Hewitt in the next game brought down the lead to 3-5. But, Rosol had done so much damage in the first few games that this slight comeback by Hewitt didn’t matter much. The Czech player served out the 9^th game to win the second set.

In the last set, Hewitt’s performance was absolutely brilliant. He broke Rosol’s serve in the 4^th and the 6^th game and held his entire serve to win the decider by 6-1.

In the next match, Hewitt will face John Isner of USA.