Lleyton Hewitt flies flag for Australians

 
30 July 2012

It has been a while since their hopes rested solely on Lleyton Hewitt but the 2002 Wimbledon champion today became the only Australian to win a singles match at the Olympic tournament at the All England Lawn Tennis Club.

Hewitt gave a typically feisty performance to beat Ukraine’s Sergiy Stakhovsky 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 and earn a second-round meeting with Marin Cilic.

Hewitt, 31, whose latest round of injury woes have left him at No159 in the rankings, needed a wild card to play here but showed he is still a fine player on grass.

The former world No1 made an early break in the first set, which he won with another break of serve, but at 4-4 in the second Stakhovsky broke for the first time and went on to level the match. The decider was tight until Hewitt broke in the sixth game, after which the Australian served out for victory.

Nevertheless, Hewitt’s win cannot disguise his country’s problems, which were highlighted at this year’s Wimbledon, where Sam Stosur’s first-round victory was their only win in singles.

Andy Roddick continued his improvement after an injury-troubled year by beating Slovakia’s Martin Klizan 7-5, 6-4. The 29-year-old now faces Novak Djokovic.

Richard Gasquet, a potential third-round opponent for Andy Murray, eased to a 6-3, 6-3 victory over Robin Haase.

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