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by Prip As Tommy Haas was finishing his match against Todd Martin, Lleyton Hewitt was struggling to avoid a first-round exit in his bid for a title defense. Typical of a match featuring Arthurs, the first set had gone into a tie-breaker, which Arthurs took 7-3. The second set had also gone into a tie-breaker, and was dead even at 3-all. Lleyton, finally managed to get the break he needed, though, and served out the tie-breaker, taking it 7-5. The crowd by then had already been pumped up, with equal support offered for either player. Always an adrenaline junkie, Lleyton had a huge "Come ON!" and fist pump, and he certainly deserved to pat himself on the back. Battling respiratory problems and inflammation in his chest, the young Aussie still has no confirmation of what is going on, and has taken various steps to avoid surgery. The good news is that apparently, his condition can't be aggravated by his playing tennis. Hopefully the pills and treatment he is getting will eventually solve the problem. Wayne Arthurs served to open the third set, and surprisingly, was broken by Lleyton, who might still have been riding on the high of taking the second set. Slamming his racquet and grimacing with disappointment, Wayne slowly started to fall apart. He failed to get the break back, and actually had his serve broken again in the next game to go down 0-3. Once again, Lleyton had no trouble holding, going up 4-0 before Wayne finally got his act together and strung some mighty serves in to get his first game of the set. Lleyton knew that he didn't have to go for too much, and was contented to serve out the match. Wayne held again for 2-5 despite being called on foot-faults three times, and went up 30-0 on Lleyton's service game. The young Aussie was experienced enough despite his young age, and took the next 4 points in a row with amazing running shots, closing out the match. |