Hewitt rolls back years to beat fifth seed

Hewitt pumped up Thursday, 25 June 2009 Lleyton Hewitt fired up on Centre Court against Juan Martin Del Potro. Lleyton Hewitt, moving and roaring as if the last seven years had never happened, scored perhaps his finest win at The Championships since becoming the champion in 2002 as he crushed Argentina's Juan Martin Del Potro 6-3 7-5 7-5 in two hours 32 minutes . The 20-year-old Del Potro, seeded fifth which meant he was theoretically lined up for a semi-final spot following Rafael Nadal’s withdrawal, never looked like subduing the Australian attack dog - the only male representative from his country at a tournament once dominated by great players from Down Under. Hewitt simply carried on where he had left off in his first round destruction of Robby Ginepri, serving beautifully - there were 14 aces - and offering his opponent a devastating lesson in how to move on grass. Del Potro's second round exit was his third in succession at Wimbledon and opens up the top half of the draw even more to Andy Murray's advantage. With the vastly experienced coach and fellow Australian Tony Roche helping him, as he does at all Grand Slams these days, Hewitt was provided with an extra boost, not that he appeared in need of any. "Feisty" is the description normally associated with Lleyton, and he was at his aggressive best for this Little versus Large confrontation with the 6ft 6in Argentine. Offering loud extra support was a large contingent of Australian supporters in their green-and-gold national colours. Meanwhile the taciturn Del Potro, who had been dubbed "Del Boy" by the Hewitt fans, was struggling to unearth the kind of form which has sent him zooming up the rankings in the past 12 months. He was not helped by Hewitt's full-out attacking plan, developed over many years of grass court play though, fortunately, Hewitt's defences were as solid as his aggressive intentions as he fought off four break points in the fifth game and another two in the seventh. In the process of hauling himself out of trouble in that fifth game Hewitt unleashed his famous roar of "C'mon" several times, the first one virtually in Del Potro's face after an exchange of volleys. None of this helped Del Potro's peace of mind, which was further under pressure following an awkward fall which required brief treatment on his right knee at the end of the first set. Del Potro's power off the ground usually ensured he emerged on top of any protracted rallies but whenever Hewitt hustled it was a different story. He built on that break of serve and when it came to clinching the opening set Hewitt's play was exemplary, three successive aces to close it out in 45 minutes. Could Hewitt keep it up in the heat, though, at the age of 28 and battling his way back up the rankings after last year's hip operation? To the delight of the green-and-gold brigade, the immediate answer was a resounding “yes”. Pumping out the aces on a regular basis, Hewitt kept pace with Del Potro through the first 10 games of the second set before striking again to break for a 6-5 lead. Though his first serve promptly deserted him and he faced his seventh break point of the match, the Australian closed out the set with the assistance of some embarrassing errors from his opponent, culminating in a backhand struck well wide. Another massive "C'mon" and it was two sets to Hewitt after an hour and 35 minutes. Now Lleyton had the giant on his knees and he tightened the screw even more by breaking again at the start of the third set. The only wobble came when he served for the match and failed to make it, losing his delivery for the only time in the match. Typically, he bounced right back, broke Del Potro to lead 6-5 and this time closed it out, albeit nervously. But if the winner was visibly chuffed, he was looking dangerously puffed. Centre Court - Gentlemen's Singles - 2nd Round Juan Martin Del Potro ARG (5) 3 5 5 Lleyton Hewitt AUS 6 7 7

Hewitt warns young pretenders

Lleyton Hewitt dispatches a serve to his second round opponent Juan Martin Del Potro. It's called getting old, Lleyton. That’s why your opponent on Centre Court looked up to you when his was a kid. That’s why you’re getting asked to offer parental advice to expectant father Roger Federer. That’s why you need to put ice on more parts of your body after every match. But it is also why you beat 20-year-old Juan Martin Del Potro. You can’t buy experience. By his own admission, Lleyton Hewitt had wound the clock back with his 6-3, 7-5, 7-5 victory over the fifth seed on Centre Court. John McEnroe said Hewitt had not played that well since his Wimbledon-winning year of 2002, but the Australian considered it not that long ago. "I don't know about 2002," Hewitt said. "The end of 2004 I played extremely well. The start of 2005, I played very well, as well. "[Today] was a big win. I wanted to beat a top five guy. These are the places you want to do it, too. The body felt great as well. So I felt like I could actually go out there and compete 100%. Lay it all on the line. That's what I like to do. "You don't want to go out there and have excuses. Yeah, I wanted to lay it out on the line, playing one of the best guys in the world, and see how you go. I felt like I was able to do that. I competed as well as I've ever competed." Hewitt had clearly enjoyed his match, and he was grateful for the support from the Centre Court crowd, particularly from a row of hardcore Aussies. But he was more grateful that he had fully recovered from last August's hip surgery. "It's been great since I really got on the clay. So around Houston time [in April] I haven't had any problems with the hip at all. At the start of the year after the surgery it was more scar tissue and that from the operation and having to keep doing a lot of rehab on it. "Once I made that commitment to have the surgery and go through the tough rehab, being off the tour for that long, the motivation was there. I think it probably hit home more when the US Open was on last year after I'd had the surgery and I was sitting back at home just twiddling my thumbs, changing nappies and stuff, but not doing a lot of other things. I was really missing not being at the US Open, which is one of my favourite tournaments." Hewitt has effectively beaten the top seed, since Del Porto replaced the injured Rafael Nadal in the number one spot. He showed his experience again by swatting away post-match questions about winning Wimbledon or a possible semi-final against Andy Murray. But he did sound an ominous warning to all the young bucks in the field. “I think there's been patches this year when I've played extremely well. It's taken some of the best players to beat me in the bigger tournaments. "I think if the draw opens up and the body feels good and I can play, execute that kind of style of tennis for over five sets, there's no reason why I can't put a bit of pressure on these guys."

Match analysis: Hewitt v Del Potro

Hewitt serve strategy Two giants of the game squared off against each other today on Centre Court. Argentina’s finest, rising star Juan Martin Del Potro, number five in the world, was up against experienced Aussie fighter Lleyton Hewitt, in what could easily be mistaken for a semi-final match, such is the quality of these two players. In today’s tough contest, experience overcame youth, with Hewitt’s mental strength being greater than his opponent’s as he rekindled the glory days of 2002 to win 6-3, 7-5, 7-5. In 2000, Hewitt became the first teenager to win four titles in a season and qualified for the season-ending Masters Cup. In 2008, Del Potro electrified the tour, becoming the first player to win four straight titles and a trip to Beijing for the Masters Cup. Although Lleyton Hewitt is currently ranked 56 in the world, his performances this year at Queen’s and in the previous round at Wimbledon suggests he is a real threat to the top seeds. Del Potro has yet to develop a grass court game like Hewitt, playing more than 100 fewer games than his seasoned opponent, but he has had a taste of the big time at Wimbledon in 2007, where, as a lanky teenager, he lost to Roger Federer. Hewitt has 90 grass court victories and a cabinet full of trophies. Six have come on grass - one Wimbledon title, four at Queen’s, one at s-Hertogenbosch. In the opening exchanges of the match, Del Potro found the first break point chances relatively easy to achieve, using his reach to flick the ball back in play, occasionally for a clean winner off the return, or otherwise use his monster forehand to take control of the rallies. But he could not capitalise as Hewitt denied the Argentine the early break. However, Hewitt knows his opponent’s strengths and was able to force Del Potro back behind the baseline and into the backhand court with his legendary backhand cross-court returns. Hewitt survived the early break point chances, kept his unforced errors to a minimum, and pounced first, breaking the 6ft 6in Argentine using his finely tuned tactical brain to race ahead 6-3 after 49 minutes. When two great players face each other on grass, the first set is all about patience. Great players tend to serve solidly and wait for the other player to lose concentration in that one game where any errors will be punished. Hewitt was rewarded for playing a wise first set, only gifting his opponent three unforced errors and predominantly hitting to Del Potro’s backhand, although he mixed things up on the serve to keep Del Potro from establishing a rhythm. He tamed the world number five by getting inside the baseline where he was able to hit 43 winners by the end of the match. Hewitt knew he had to raise his game to thwart the Argentine’s advances Del Potro’s ace count began to increase as he analysed his game and realised one per set was not going to win the match. He looked to be becoming more competitive, but Hewitt also knew he had to raise his game to thwart the Argentine’s advances and amazingly won every point on his first serve throughout the second set. He seized the one break of the set, in the 10th game, as a lapse in concentration by Del Potro gifted Hewitt four unforced errors and then led to him serving out the set 7-5. Del Potro would be two sets up against most of the draw with his performance today but could not sustain the intense high levels of play achieved by the two of them. Hewitt, on the other hand, sensed the moment to crush his 20-year-old opponent, and had the experience, drive and confidence to edge ahead early in the third while Del Potro was still deflated from losing the first two sets. Astonishingly, five break points went to the Australian in the first Del Potro service game and he had the third round in his sights. Lleyton just had to keep going, the match was now his to lose. Del Potro briefly levelled the set, breaking Hewitt for the first time after two and a half hours of trying, only to let Hewitt regain his break advantage to go 6-5 ahead. Del Potro was making nervous, unforced errors, particularly on the backhand side. Hewitt’s coach, Tony Roche, would have highlighted that area as the key to winning against Del Potro on grass. The match was won by Hewitt keeping his unforced errors down (14 to 24) and winning 52% of his second serves while Del Potro only managed 48%, the 4% margin between them accounts for the four crucial break points Hewitt achieved.

Del Potro powers past Clement

Juan Martin Del Potro The sleeveless shirt looks a little familiar. The Nike swoosh on the headband (a recurring theme on the showcourts of SW19 this year) rings a bell. The bloke wearing them is sitting in the top slot in the draw. Yes, but it’s still not Rafa. When Rafael Nadal announced last week that his knees were not up to the challenge of two weeks of lunging and bending on a grass court, 15,000 Centre Court ticket holders groaned. In the referee’s office, someone sighed. “Ah, we’ll have to rejig the draw. So, the fifth seed will move up to the top spot, the 17th seed will take the fifth seed spot, the…” and somewhere in the locker room, Juan Martin Del Potro gulped. Fifth seed? Blimey, that’s me. And so it was that Juan Martin Del Potro strode out on to No.1 Court as the new Rafa for 2009. And he made a fine fist of it, too, beating Arnaud Clement 6-3, 6-1, 6-2 in one hour and 37 minutes. Apart from the lack of sleeves and the clothing sponsor, there are few similarities between Del Potro and last year’s champion. Where Nadal’s muscle shirt clung tight to his pecs and reveals nothing but muscles from shoulder to wrist, Del Potro’s reveals nothing but… well, arms, really. They go on forever. Same with his legs. The fifth seed, world No. 5 and the best Argentine on the tour, is a collection of knees, elbows and limbs. Standing 6ft 6ins, he did not so much look down on the 5ft 8ins Clement as make the Frenchman look as if he were standing in a hole. And from the very first point, Clement realised he was in a really deep hole. Grass may not be Del Potro’s forte – he has been here twice before and gone out in the second round on both occasions – but so high is his confidence at the moment that he believes he can give anyone a run for their money, no matter what surface they are playing on. Until last year, the Argentine was just another one of those promising young men who flattered to deceive. Yes he could give the ball and almighty thump and, yes, with that height, his first serve was a potent weapon, but putting all the parts of his game together over the course of one or two weeks to win the title was a bit of a problem. And then, last summer, something clicked. As Del Potro made his way from Wimbledon to the US Open, he picked up four consecutive tour titles. He added to that with the Auckland trophy at the start of this season and then set off on a run to the sharp end of most of the major tournaments this year– the semi-finals in Roland Garros and the Madrid and Miami Masters and the quarter-finals of the Australian Open and the Indian Wells and Rome Masters. All of that moved him up to fifth spot in the world rankings and knocking on the door of the elite club at the very top of the world order. On grass, his game is still a bit of a work in progress and there are times when he looks like a giraffe lowering itself to drink as he tries to get down to a low bounce. No matter, his power, reach and ability to cover the court in a stride and half more than make up for that. Whether his confidence can carry him beyond the second round this time remains to be seen. But as Rafa replacements go, Del Potro is doing a fine job so far.