NEWS: Hewitt Loses in 2nd Round in Australia
By PAUL ALEXANDER , 01.19.2006, 07:48 AM
Associated Press
forbes.com
Lleyton Hewitt was bounced out of the second round of the Australian Open Thursday, delaying his hope of winning his home Grand Slam for one another year.
Argentina's Juan Ignacio Chela easily got by the third-seeded Hewitt, 6-4, 6-4, 6-7 (8), 6-2 to avenge last year's emotional loss to the Australian.
The unseeded Chela rarely let Hewitt - or the boisterous crowd - get into the match.
Hewitt, a finalist here last year, was hoping to become the first Australian to win this tournament since Mark Edmondson in 1976.
But he committed 62 unforced errors and struggled the same way he did in Tuesday's first-round, five-set victory over 58th-ranked Robin Vik.
Hewitt rallied to win that match. This time, Chela squelched his comeback effort after Hewitt took the third set on his seventh set point.
Chela, winning consecutive matches for the first time since August, got the last two of his eight breaks of Hewitt's serve to take a 3-0 lead in the fourth set, then fended off one break point as he held serve the rest of the way, finishing it with a forehand crosscourt winner.
Last year, Chela was fined for spitting in Hewitt's direction during their third-round match. There were no incidents this time.
The pair met at the net, shook hands quickly and quietly before Hewitt walked off without even acknowledging the crowd's applause.
"I'm really happy," Chela said. "He won the third set fighting a lot."
Earlier, Swiss stars Roger Federer, the men's top seed, and Martina Hingis, on the comeback after a three-year layoff, posted quick victories.
Conserving energy for later in the two-week tournament, Federer was in top form as he cruised through his second-round match, needing only 1 hour and 12 minutes to beat Florian Mayer 6-1, 6-4, 6-0.
It was the second easy match for the Swiss star, who's seeking his seventh Grand Slam victory and second title here. He has yielded only 12 games in six sets.
"I definitely feel like, if I keep on playing the way I am, not losing too much energy out on the court ... maybe it's going to pay back eventually," Federer said. "It might come down to this one match where you're going to be tangled up in the fifth set and you need some reserves."
Spending as little time on court as possible was the goal of every player on a day when temperatures reached 91 degrees. The players sought shade at every opportunity.
"It's so nice to get quick matches in the heat," Federer said.
Fifth-seeded Mary Pierce, the 1995 Australian champion and a two-time finalist at last year's majors, became the highest-seeded player to be eliminated when she lost 6-3, 7-5 to Iveta Benesova.
Pierce, who turned 31 last Sunday and was playing in her 13th Australian Open, crashed into the net as she lunged to reach a drop shot on match point and said she had problems with her contact lenses in the hot, windy conditions.
But the bottom line, she added, was that she didn't play well.
"It was just one of those days," Pierce said. "Probably April or May was my last bad match. If I only have a bad match every nine months, it's OK."
Pierce made 41 unforced errors, against only 19 for Benesova.
"This is definitely the best win in my whole career," said the 22-year-old Czech player. "It's good that it happened in a Grand Slam."
Losses by Pierce and No. 21 Ava Ivanovic mean that Martina Hingis, on a comeback from a three-year retirement, has no seeded players left in her part of the draw until the quarterfinals, when she could face ailing Kim Clijsters, seeded second.
Backed by a crowd that included a yodeler, Hingis smiled frequently and was sharp again as she scored an easy 6-1, 6-1 victory over unseeded Emma Laine of Finland in just 52 minutes.
Hingis won twice as many points, 52-25, and committed only nine unforced errors.
"Maybe all these three years, I freshened up a little," said Hingis, who has dropped only five games in four sets. "I'm just really enjoying every second of being around here."
Swiss fans were sprinkled around Rod Laver Arena, including three young men with the national flag painted on their faces, as Federer took the court.
They saw nothing to disappoint them.
Federer was so dominating that Mayer never even had a game point after holding serve to pull within 4-5 in the second set.
The overmatched Mayer tried a little of everything, charging the net and flicking soft drops from the baseline, but nothing worked with any consistency.
Always a perfectionist, the normally stoic Federer did seem a little annoyed at his 18 unforced errors that accounted for a third of Florian's points. And after smacking a forehand crosscourt winner for his third break of the final set, he allowed himself a little fist pump.
Federer finished off the match with a pair of service winners and his eighth and ninth aces, then hit the ball high into the stands on one side and tossed his green wristband on the other. His next opponent is 30th-seeded Max Mirnyi.
No. 5 Nikolay Davydenko, a potential quarterfinal opponent, advanced 4-6, 6-0, 6-3, 6-2 over American Kevin Kim and No. 6 Guillermo Coria overcame Italy's Federico Luzzi 7-6 (10), 6-4, 6-3.
Also advancing were 12th-seeded Dominik Hrbaty, No. 15 Juan Carlos Ferrero, No. 21 Nicolas Kiefer, No. 23 Igor Andreev and No. 25 Sebastien Grosjean (25).
Kim Clijsters, bothered by hip and back soreness, overcame 48 unforced errors and five double faults to beat Yuan Meng, who had heavy strapping on both thighs and produced only two clean winners in the match.
The second-seeded Clijsters needed treatment on her back and hip between sets and wasn't moving fluently, although she went to the net 14 times and won 12 of those points.
"I'm happy with the win, but my body doesn't feel too good at the moment," Clijsters said. "Although I didn't play my best tennis, not even close, I always felt like I could win.
"As long as (the hip) doesn't get worse, I'll keep fighting and see how I go."
Third-seeded Amelie Mauresmo advanced 7-6 (1), 6-2 over French compatriot Emilie Loit. Also advancing were No. 7 Patty Schnyder, No. 12 Anastasia Myskina, No. 16 Nicole Vaidisova and No. 20 Flavia Pennetta.
Seven of the seeded women lost Thursday.
Samantha Stosur beat Ivanovic; and 17-year-old Michaella Krajicek, the half-sister of 1996 Wimbledon champion Richard Krajicek, defeated No. 32 Sania Mirza.
Other ranked players who lost were Dinara Safina (19), Anna-Lena Groenefeld (22), Marion Bartoli (27) and Gisela Dulko (31).
Lleyton Hewitt, a finalist here last year, was scheduled to renew his heated rivalry with Argentina's Juan Ignacio Chela at night, a rematch of their controversial third-round meeting. Hewitt won and Chela was fined for spitting in the Australian's direction. |
