The Hindu : Sport / Tennis : Hewitt cruises ahead

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Jun 10, 2004

Sport

Sport - Tennis

Hewitt cruises ahead

LONDON, JUNE 9. Lleyton Hewitt advanced to the third round of the Stella Artois Championships on Wednesday, out-gunning Spain's Marc Lopez from the back of the court.

A two-time champion at the Queen's Club, Hewitt was too strong on centre court as he eased through 6-3, 6-2 in 57 minutes. Sixth seed Hewitt, Wimbledon champion in 2002, is looking for a third title this year. He will next face Jonathan Marray who won an all-British match against Jamie Delgado 6-4, 6-3.

Hewitt's fellow Australian Todd Reid was less impressive, however, losing 6-3, 6-1 to last year's runner-up Sebastien Grosjean.

Frenchman Grosjean needed just 53 minutes to advance leaving Reid stunned. ``I just didn`t have the goods out there today,'' said Reid. ``He was playing too well. I had a slow start and had trouble on my serve.''

As polished as Grosjean and Hewitt were, the loudest cheer of the day was reserved for Welshman Ian Flanagan, Grosjean's next opponent. The 22-year-old, ranked 866 in the world, caused one of the biggest upsets when he beat Wimbledon runner-up Philippoussis on Tuesday.

His expected comedown never materialised as he beat world number 78 Victor Hanescu 7-6, 6-3. Flanagan received a standing ovation after claiming his second senior-level victory and will relish taking on fellow baseliner Grosjean next.

In another second round match, Hyung-Taik Lee defeated Robby Ginepri 6-3, 6-2. In an all-French encounter at the west London venue, Antony Dupuis improved to 3-0 over Nicolas Mahut with a 7-6, 6-4 second round win.

Easy for Federer

At the Gerry Weber Open, top-ranked Roger Federer ran his winning streak on grass to 13 matches by coasting past Sweden's Thomas Johansson 6-3, 6-2 on Tuesday. The No. 1-ranked Swiss, playing on grass for the first time since winning 2003 Wimbledon, blasted two aces to close out Johansson, the 2002 Australian Open champion.

``I feel good, even in training I hit a good level,'' Federer said. ``It was a perfect day, perfect weather, great spectators.''

Federer drew wild cheers for the way he fended off a break chance while ahead 5-2 in the final set, running along the net to chase down a drop shot, then flipping it in reverse.

``The great shots were nice for the people. I surprised myself,'' the Swiss said. ``Fortunately I won all those points, so I got all the applause.''

Germany's Rainer Schuettler, the second seed, also eased into the third round at the event, a key warm-up for Wimbledon which starts in two weeks, while Sweden's Jonas Bjorkman upset No. 5 Marat Safin 6-2, 6-7 (4), 7-6 (4).

Safin, the 2000 U.S. Open champion, missed one match point and fought off three in a 2 1/2-hour marathon on a surface he doesn't like.

He has a string of early exits at Wimbledon. ``I don't enjoy grass, I don't feel comfortable on it,'' Safin said. ``If you don't feel good, it's difficult to get results.''

The results:

At Queen's Club (Stella Artois tournament): Second Round: Sebastien Grosjean bt Todd Reid 6-3, 6-1; Lleyton Hewitt bt Marc Lopez 6-3, 6-2; Hyung-Taik Lee bt Robby Ginepri 6-3, 6-2; Mario Ancic bt Todd Martin 7-6 (5), 4-6, 6-2; Ian Flanagan bt Victor Hanescu 7-6 (4), 6-3; Antony Dupuis bt Nicolas Mahut 7-6 (7), 6-4; Jonathan Marray bt Jamie Delgado 6-4, 6-3.

Tuesday's results: Second round: Igor Andreev bt Andre Agassi 4-6, 7-6 (2), 7-6 (3); Andy Roddick bt Karol Kucera 7-6 (4), 6-2; Sjeng Schalken bt Wesley Whitehouse 7-6 (4), 6-3.

At Birmingham (DFS Classic): Second Round: Magdalena Maleeva bt Anca Barna 3-6, 6-4, 6-3; Tamarine Tanasugarn bt Jill Craybas 6-1, 7-5; Jelena Jankovic bt Virginia Ruano Pascual 6-1, 6-0; Saori Obata bt Kelly McCain 7-5, 7-5.

Tuesday's results: Second round: Maria Sharapova bt Jamea Jackson 6-2, 6-2; Patty Schnyder bt Arantxa Parra Santonja 6-2, 4-6, 6-1.

At Halle (Gerry Weber Open): First round: Roger Federer bt Thomas Johansson 6-3, 6-2; Rainer Schuettler bt Jan Hernych 6-3, 6-2; Fernando Verdasco bt Martin Verkerk 7-5, 7-5; Nicolas Kiefer bt Lars Burgsmueller 6-3, 6-4; Mikhail Youzhny bt Florian Mayer 6-7 (4), 6-2, 7-6 (2); Andreas Seppi bt Nikolay Davydenko 7-6 (5), 2-6, 6-3; Joachim Johansson bt Robin Soderling 7-6 (3), 4-6, 6-3. — Agencies

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