Lleyton Hewitt has cruised into the final 4 of the ongoing BB&T Atlanta Open by defeating Ivan Dodig of Croatia. Hewitt won the match in three sets by 1-6, 6-3, 6-0.
Hewitt was not looking in good touch at the start and he was completely outclassed in the opening set. But, the Aussie star fought back after that and clinched the next two sets in style to win the contest.
In the post match interview, Hewitt said, “It was tough for me at the start. He was serving really well and was also spot on with his return shots. He had certainly got me under pressure.”
“However, I am glad that I managed to battle it out. It feels good to be in the semi finals. Hopefully, I will keep going well in the next match as well.”
In the opening set, Dodig began with a bang. With breakthroughs in the 2nd and the 4th game, he won the first 5 games in a row. Hewitt held his serve for the first time in the set in the 6th game to make the score 5-1, but, that was too little, too late. Another serve hold by the Croatian player in the 7th game sealed the set in his favour.
In the second set, both the players held their serve in the first 7 games and Hewitt was leading by 4-3 when the 7th game ended.
The Australian player sneaked a breakthrough in the 8th game and then, by winning his next service game, he clinched the set.
In the decider, Hewitt was at his peak. With some high quality shots, he made his opponent look ordinary. He secured a bagel and won the contest.
In the semi final round, Hewitt will take on the winner of the match between James Blake and John Isner.