Hewitt Win Sets Up Marquee Wednesday In Houston

By Ricky Dimon

 

Windy conditions and an in-form Peter Polansky gave Lleyton Hewitt plenty of trouble during first-round action at the U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championship on Tuesday, but the 33-year-old Australian persevered for a 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 victory after two hours and four minutes.

 

Struggling to serve in the wind, both Hewitt and Polansky were broken more times than they held. They each dropped serve eight times, while Hewitt held only seven times and Polansky held on just six occasions. Neither man won even half of his second-serve points and Polansky won a mere 24 percent of the points when he had to toss in a second delivery. Hewitt failed to serve out the match at 5-2 in the third, but he managed to get the job done at 5-4.

 

“You’re never going to play clean tennis out there today, so it was a matter of finding a way to get through,” the No. 7 seed explained. “And obviously he played three matches on these courts to get through qualifying, so he was confident as well. In the end I was just happy to get the win.”

 

Hewitt’s victory sets up a blockbuster second-round showdown with Sam Querrey on Wednesday. Querrey kicked off his Houston campaign with a 6-4, 7-6(6) defeat of Alex Bogomolov Jr. on Monday night.

 

Wednesday’s schedule will also feature the No. 1 American in John Isner. Isner, the defending champion and top seed, is going up against entertaining German Dustin Brown, who put on a shot-making clinic–including one “tweener”–in a 6-1, 6-2 rout of Rhyne Williams on Monday.

 

It will undoubtedly be a more serious day at the office for Isner than what he enjoyed on Tuesday. The world No. 9 faced former NBA star Clyde Drexler, a fan favorite in Houston as one of the greatest Rockets players in history. Isner and Drexler squared off in a 10-point tiebreaker, naturally won by the more experienced tennis player of the two.

 

““It was awesome,” Isner said following his lighthearted victory. “I’m so lucky to be able to play professional tennis and through that I am able to do cool things like this. It’s an unbelievable opportunity for me.”

Topics: Alex Bogomolov Jr, Drexler, Dustin Brown, Houston, Isner, Lleyton Hewitt, Peter Polansky, Rhyne Williams, Ricky Dimon, Sam Querrey, Tennis, Tennis News, U.S. Men's Clay Court Championship

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