HEWITT DENIES REPORTS

The former Australian Open champion, Lleyton Hewitt, has denied the reports that he is going to announce his retirement pretty soon. The performance of Hewitt in 2012 has been pretty poor.

Hewitt has started this season pretty well and in the Australian Open, he had won his first three matches before being defeated by the current world no. 1 Novak Djokovic in the fourth round. But, as the season progressed, Hewitt’s form deteriorated.

The Australian tennis superstar didn’t manage to win even one match in the French Open and the Wimbledon Championship. His performance in the US Open was a bit better. In US Open, Hewitt won his first couple of matches and went to the third round, but, was defeated in the third round match by David Ferrer. Hewitt won two matches in London Olympics as well.

In the Campbell’s tennis Championship played at Newport, Hewitt’s performance was quite good and he managed to reach the finals of that tournament. However, he failed in winning his first title of the year. In the final, he was defeated by John Isner in the straight sets by 7-6(1), 6-4.

Hewitt played 33 matches in this season out of which he won 17 and lost 16. His performance in the previous season was also pretty similar. Out of the 26 matches that he had played in the last season, he had won 14 and had lost 12.

When asked about the retirement, Hewitt said, “I don’t think this is the right time for me to quit tennis. This is certainly not my last season. I can see myself playing throughout the next year and then, in the Australian Open in 2014. My body is still good enough to soak the pressure of playing at this level.”

HEWIIT FALLS TO STEPANEK

Lleyton Hewitt has been defeated by Radek Stepanek of Czech Republic in the first round of the Shanghai Rolex Masters 2012. Stepanek won the match in the straight sets by 7-5, 6-1.

Stepanek who is currently ranked 41st in the official rankings of WTA took just 85 minutes to knock Hewitt out of the competition. Hewitt fought hard in the opening set of the match, but, in the second set, he seemed to have no answer of the powerful shots of Stepanek. The Czech player smashed a couple of aces in each set.

After losing the match, Hewitt said, “It’s obviously disappointing to get knocked out from the very first round. I played decently in the first few games, but, as the match progressed, I lost my composure.”

When asked whether he is planning to retire, Hewitt said, “No, I think there is still a bit of tennis left in me and I can still win matches at the top level and as long as I think so, I am not going to retire.”

“I am still hungry for success and that’s what matters the most. It’s true that the last few months haven’t been great for me, but, I am confident that I will regain my form back pretty soon.”

Both the players started the match pretty well. There were no breakthroughs in the first 11 games of the first set and the scorecard was saying 6-5 in the favour of Stepanek. Hewitt had to hold his service in the next game to take the set to the tie breaker, but, he failed to do so. His service was broken in the 12th game and he lost the first set by 5-7.

In the second set, Stepanek was on fire. He broke Hewitt’s service in the second game and won the first three games in a row to take a lead of 3-0. Hewitt served out the fourth game, but, that was the last game to be won by him in the match. Stepanek wrapped up the match by winning the next three games.

In the second round, Stepanek will take on Richard Gasquet of France.

HEWITT TAKES WIN

Lleyton Hewitt has been defeated by Viktor Troicki of Serbia in the second round of the Western and Southern Open at Cincinnati. Troicki demolished Hewitt and won the match in the straight sets by 6-2, 6-0. The match was over in just 61 minutes. Troicki, who has been ranked 32nd in the official rankings of WTA, smashed 5 aces in the match. Hewitt managed to win only 2 games in the entire match which points towards Troicki’s dominance in the match.

Troicki was on attack right from the start of the match. He broke Hewitt’s service in the second game of the first set and then, held his service in the next game to make the score 3-0. Both the players held their service in the next 4 games and the scorecard was saying 5-2 at the end of the 7th game. The Australian player failed to hold his service in the next game and Troicki won the first set by 6-2. In the second set, Troicki was in a destructive mood. He didn’t let Hewitt win even a single game in the second set. He broke Hewitt’s service thrice and won the second set by 6-0 to cruise into the third round.

In the post match interview, Troicki said that Hewitt is a great player and he is delighted to secure a win against him in such a convincing fashion. As per Triocki, Hewitt didn’t manage to serve well and neither did he play well from the baseline. It was not his day. In the third round, Troicki will play against Juan Martin Del Potro of Argentina. Del Potro has been playing well in the recent times and he had won the bronze medal in the London Olympics a few days ago. It would not be easy for Troicki to go past Del Potro.

HEWITT DEFEATED

Lleyton Hewitt has been defeated in the third round of the Men’s tennis singles tournament of London Olympics by Novak Djokovic. Djokovic won the match by 4-6, 7-5, 6-1. Hewitt fought very hard and didn’t let Djokovic run away with the match. At one point of time, it seemed that Hewitt might pull off a big upset. But, the power game of Djokovic was too much for Hewitt at the end. With this victory, Djokovic secured a place in the quarterfinals.

In the first set, both the players were not able to get a breakthrough in the first eight games. In the ninth game, Hewitt broke the service of Djokovic and then held his service in the next game to win the set 6-4. Djokovic was stunned after losing the first set. However, he made a come back and broke the service of Hewitt in the eighth game of the second set and the scorecard was showing 5-3. Djokovic had to hold his service in the next game to win the second set, but, Hewitt didn’t let that happen. He got a breakthrough in the ninth game and then hold his service in the next game to level the score 5-5. But, Djokovic didn’t get nervous and hold his nerves. He showed his class in the next two sets. He broke Hewitt’s service in the eleventh game to make the score 6-5 and then by holding his service in the next game, he won the second set. After winning the second set, Djokovic looked a different payer in the third set. He broke the service of Hewitt twice in the final set and won the set easily by 6-1.

After the match, Hewitt said that he tried to give his best in the match, but, unfortunately, he wasn’t able to go past Djokovic. Djokovic praised Hewitt a lot after the match. He said that Hewitt is a big match player and he showed that he can still play high quality tennis.

HEWITT FALLS TO TSONGA

Former no. 1 tennis player, Lleyton Hewitt, has been defeated in the very first round of Wimbledon Championship by Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. Hewitt was defeated in the straight sets by 6-3, 6-4, 6-4. Hewitt is currently positioned at no. 202 in the official rankings of World Tennis association (WTA). He had been given entry into the tournament through wild card.

Wimbledon is not a new place for Lleyton Hewitt. He had won the Wimbledon Championship in 2002. But, he has been struggling a lot with the injuries in the last few years. He had played well in the Australian Open earlier this year. He was able to go to the fourth round. But, in the fourth round, he was defeated by Novak Djokovic. After that, He had to go through a toe surgery in February. After recovering from that, he made a come back in the French Open. But, he was defeated in the very first round of the French Open. However, Hewitt fought hard in that match. The fans of Hewitt were hoping that he would perform a bit better in the Wimbledon, but, unfortunately, Hewitt has not been able to do well in Wimbledon.

On being asked about his defeat in the very first round, Hewitt said that it is disappointing to be out from the very first round of a Grand Slam. He said that Tsonga is a great player and he serves brilliantly. As per Hewitt, it is not easy to come from such a severe injury and start winning matches. He gave his best and played as well as he could, but, Tsonga was just too much for him. On being asked about whether he would come and play Wimbledon Championship next year, Hewitt answered that he is not sure about it. At the moment, he is concentrating on his fitness and he wants to be 100% fit.