Lleyton Hewitt will play Andy Roddick in a battle of the former world number ones in round two of the Australian Open.
Former world number ones win to set up second-round clash
Lleyton Hewitt will play Andy Roddick in a battle of the former world number ones in round two of the Australian Open.
Hewitt raised the Melbourne Park crowd's spirits with a four-set win over Cedrik-Marcel Stebe, showing his renowned fighting qualities to stave off a determined fightback from the German.
Hewitt, now 30 and in need of a wild card to play in the tournament this year, prevailed 7-5 6-4 3-6 7-5 to set up his meeting with Roddick, who had earlier eased past Robin Haase.
The Aussie fans had been left stunned by defeat for their leading women's hope Sam Stosur earlier in the day and at one point it looked as if Hewitt, the 2005 runner-up in Melbourne, might go the same way.
After establishing a two-set lead, Hewitt relinquished control and Stebe stormed back into the contest.
He took the third set and then opened a 5-1 lead in the fourth.
However, from that point it all went wrong for the 21-year-old as Hewitt, roared on by a packed Rod Laver Arena, reeled off six straight games.
After completing his win in two minutes short of four hours, Hewitt reflected on his remarkable fourth-set turnaround.
He said: "I hung in there and kept making him play as he is one of the young guys on tour and he got a little tight serving for the set twice.
"I just tried to tried to put pressure on his second serve and managed to turn it around.''
Clean
Earlier, Roddick had dismissed Haase in straight sets, winning 6-3 6-4 6-1.
The American is a four-time semi-finalist in Melbourne but never a finalist.
Seeded 15 this year, he looked comfortable enough and was pleased with his display saying: "The serve was real good. I only missed a couple of returns. You know, it felt as clean as it does for a first round in a Slam."
Looking ahead to playing Hewitt, he predicted the match could turn into an epic.
Roddick said: "I think when we play, numbers go out the door as far as the number next to our name as far as ranking (is concerned).
"I don't pay much attention to it when it comes to Lleyton. He knows how to win tennis matches.
"He's a fighter. I have as much respect for him as I do for anybody in the game, how he goes about his business, how he competes, how professional he is.
"I've won the most recent meetings, but I think out of the six that I've won, four or five have gone the distance to the last set. We always have a bit of a war. I probably don't see it being any different."
