Lleyton Hewitt again found himself as the last Australian man standing at the French Open on Wednesday.
The former world No. 1 reached the second round when he brushed aside France’s Nicolas Mahut 6-4, 6-2, 6-4 where he will be the only Australian to feature following the first round exits of Peter Luczak, Chris Guccione and Robert Smeets.
Hewitt played through the pain of his troublesome hip injury which forced him to miss the entire European claycourt season.
“It’s still not 100 percent. There’s a little bit of pain and discomfort there,” said the 25th seed who hadn’t played at all since the Davis Cup win over Thailand six weeks ago.
“At the moment, I’m just trying to play through it as much as I can and see where it takes me,” he said.
His next stop will be against America’s Mardy Fish, who he lost to at the Indian Wells Masters in March, for a place in the last 32.
“He’s a great ball striker from both sides, with a great first serve. It’s a matter of hanging in there and grinding it out and hopefully come away with a good win,” Hewitt said.
Hewitt was free of the pressures of expectation in disposing of the 43rd ranked Mahut on a blustery Court One.
He finished the two-hour match in a flourish setting up match point with an ace and then firing down another, his seventh of the tie, to seal victory.
“It was tough out there especially on that court where the wind just swirls around the whole place,” Hewitt said.
“It doesn’t really go one way or the other. You had to be mentally tough out there,” he said.
“He’s got a big kick serve and on that court, one of the quicker courts where it’s a little bit drier than the others, his serve really kicks off and it’s not easy to dictate play,” he said. “But I stepped it up when I needed to especially on my return of serve.”
‘SOURCE OF PRIDE’: Newspapers rushed out special editions and the government sent their congratulations as Shohei Ohtani became the first player to enter the 50-50 club Japan reacted with incredulity and pride yesterday after Shohei Ohtani became the first player in Major League Baseball to record 50 home runs and 50 stolen bases in a single season. The Los Angeles Dodgers star from Japan made history with a seventh-inning homer in a 20-4 victory over the Marlins in Miami. “We would like to congratulate him from the bottom of our heart,” top government spokesman Yoshimasa Hayashi told reporters in Tokyo. “We sincerely hope Mr Ohtani, who has already accomplished feat after feat and carved out a new era, will thrive further,” he added. The landmark achievement dominated Japanese morning news
When Wang Tao ran away from home aged 17 to become a professional wrestler, he knew it would be a hard slog to succeed in China’s passionate but underdeveloped scene. Years later, he has endured family disapproval, countless side gigs and thousands of hours of brutal training to become China’s “Belt and Road Champion” — but the struggle is far from over. Despite a promising potential domestic market, the Chinese pro wrestling community has been battling for recognition and financial stability for decades. “I have done all kinds of jobs [on the side]... Because in the end, it is very
No team in the CPBL can surpass the Taipei Dome attendance record set by the CTBC Brothers, except when the Brothers team up with Taiwanese rock band Mayday. A record-high 40,000 fans turned out at the indoor baseball venue on Saturday for Brothers veteran Chou Szu-chi’s first farewell game, which was followed by a mini post-game concert featuring Mayday. This broke the previous CPBL record of 34,506 set by the Brothers in early last month, when K-pop singer Hyuna performed after the game, and the dome’s overall record of 37,890 set in early March, which featured the Brothers and the
With a quivering finger, England Subbuteo veteran Rudi Peterschinigg conceded the free-kick that sent his country’s World Cup quarter-final into extra-time before smashing his plastic goalkeeper on the floor in frustration. In the genteel southern English town of Tunbridge Wells, 300 elite players have gathered to play the game they love. “I won’t say this is the best weekend I’ve ever had in my life, but it’s certainly in the top two,” said Hughie Best, 58, who flew in from Perth, Australia, to compete and commentate at the event. Tunbridge Wells is the “spiritual home” of Subbuteo, which was invented there in 1946