LLEYTON HEWITT – TENNIS HAS A “ROCKY BALBOA”, WINS HIS FIRST ROUND IN HIS LAST AUSTRALIAN OPEN AND MORE RESULTS FROM AROUND THE ARENAS IN MELBOURNE PARK

Written by: Global Chick on 19th January 2016

LLEYTON HEWITT - TENNIS HAS A "ROCKY BALBOA", WINS HIS FIRST ROUND IN HIS LAST AUSTRALIAN OPEN AND MORE RESULTS FROM AROUND THE ARENAS IN MELBOURNE PARK

epa05110795 Lleyton Hewitt of Australia reacts during his first round match against James Duckworth of Australia at the Australian Open Grand Slam tennis tournament in Melbourne, Australia, 19 January 2016. EPA/DAVID CROSLING AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND OUT |

Part Two from Global Chick in Melbourne: ‘Hew Beauty’ – Hewitt shines… Halep does not.

Well the hits just keep on coming don’t they? Hot on the heels of Rafael Nadal’s taxi back to the players’ hotel was World No. 2, second seed and big banana-in-waiting Simona Halep.

Injury has blighted the scrappy Romanian for a while now, suffering from the tail end of the year since Singapore, and lingering, as she was soundly beaten by an emotional Zhang Shuai.

She admitted in press that while she has no pain now, she is mentally down. It is frustrating – she is an engaging player, having gained in confidence in front of we prowling media compared to the first time I encountered her, rather like a wallaby in headlights.

Back to the drawing board for her as she prepares for Fed Cup and then perhaps Dubai and Doha before the more gruelling US hard court spring is upon us.

More on Rafael Nadal – the day session ended with his shock defeat, and it was a shattered looking Spaniard that sat in press. Ever sportsmanlike, he gave full praise to Verdasco – “He played better than me. He played more aggressive than me. He [took] more risks than me, and he won. Probably he deserved [it].”

While Nadal was at pains to try and put aside his issues from last year aside from the start of this year (don’t forget he got crushed in Doha at the hands of Novak Djokovic), it is clear that all is not well in the garden of the man from Manacor. Let us also not forget… even the greats sometimes turn to a different voice, don’t they, Mr Federer; don’t they Mr Djokovic?

For a long time now, people have suggested not necessarily ditching Uncle Toni, but certainly bringing someone else in. Surely now is the time? What harm could it do to have another perspective? It seemed to work pretty well for the current giants in the game.

But pride and place of the night session belonged to Lleyton Hewitt. Once a bad-boy of the Antipodes, and now beloved of them, his countryman Jack Duckworth had the task of maybe ending Hewitt’s Australian Open run.

Lleyton Hewitt of Australia serves to James Duckworth of Australia during their first round match at the Australian Open Grand Slam tennis tournament in Melbourne, Australia, 19 January 2016. EPA/DAVID CROSLING

Well the flag-adorned Hewitt had something to say about that, and to be fair ‘Ducky’ looked as though he was somewhat out of his depth, if you will.

The first set was competitive, with Hewitt edging a tie-break, but in the second set, Duckworth seemed to just wilt with the gathering swell of affection for this Aussie national treasure, situated a little behind cuddly koalas, hoppity kangas and a cold tinny in the eski! (Seriously – I could live out here I have so got the lingo and the Melbourne brunching habit down).

The third set had us all wondering whether the media restaurant was going to flounder in a flood of pre-midnight made to order pasta and burger dishes, but Hewitt broke back and as he passed the new wave of Aussie talent to register his last first round win, he fell back onto the court – not so much a felled oak, more a toppled but aged sapling… but he lives to fight another day. Next up for him is David Ferrer. This will be a long one.

We will see what Day Three has in store.

Topics: 10sballs.com, Australian Open, Fernando Verdasco, global chick, James Duckworth, Lleyton Hewitt, Melbourne, Rafa Nadal, Rocky Balboa, Simona Halep, Tennis News