US Open 2013: Day 5 - Hewitt upsets Del Potro in thriller



Hewitt fought past fellow former Champ Del Potro in five

US Open 2013: Day 5 - Hewitt upsets Del Potro in thriller

So many times over the past 2 or 3 years I have expected Lleyton Hewitt to announce his retirement, and certainly many would have done if facing the injuries, surgeries and setbacks that the Australian has, but every time back he comes with a big win and reminder of his amazing battling qualities.

He could not have displayed his trademark hustle, tenacity and determination more in his stirring 6-4 5-7 3-6 7-6(2) 6-1 defeat of 6th seed and fellow former champion Juan Martin Del Potro.  The Veteran Australian now leads 3-2 their head to head series.


Hewitt managed to engage Del Potro in lengthy baseline exchanges which the 32 year-old usually came out on top of.  He managed to keep short rallies - and Del Potro winners - to a minimum at the vital times and passed the Giant Argentinean beautifully with a series of crosscourt forehands placed perfectly.

What was impressive about the victory was that it came after Hewitt was broken both serving for the second and fourth sets. Heading into the fourth set tie-break the odds were on a Del Potro victory but the Australian 2001 champion played a sensational tie-break and then dominated the fifth the upset after just over 4 hours.    


Mutual respect between the victorious 2001 winner and defeated 2009 winner

Women's singles round-up

Reigning champion Serena Williams was on late night duty after the Hewitt/Del Potro epic and the World No.1 did not want to hang around but had to concentrate during a 6-3 6-1 win over the talented Yaroslava Shvedova who took her to 7-5 in the third at Wimbledon last year.

Our British hopes in the women's singles came to an end as Li Na took revenge on Laura Robson with a 6-2 7-5 win over the 19 year-old 30th seed.  Robson started slowly and then could capitalise on a 3-0 lead in the second.  But she justified her first ever seeding at a major and two third round berths and the last 16 at Wimbledon is a strong return from the slams in 2013.

Li remains on course for a third major quarter final of the year against Agnieszka Radwanska as the 3rd seeded Pole fought past former quarter finalist Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-4 7-6(7-1).

2011 semi-finalist Angelique Kerber avenged her Wimbledon loss to Kaia Kanepi by clubbing the Estonian 6-0 6-4.  In front of me on Court 2 at Wimbledon she let slip a 6-3 6-6 (5-1) lead to lose in the third round.

2008 finalist Jelena Jankovic continued her push back towards to the top 10 but not before she had to overcome a determined effort from Japanese qualifier Kurumi Nara.  Nara served for the second set three times but in the end experience was telling and JJ came through 6-4 7-6(7-5).  She next faces Li who she beat in Rome in the spring.

Wimbledon finalist Sabine Lisicki fell on Grandstand to Ekaterina Makarova 6-4 7-5. The German 16th seed fought back from 1-5 before losing the first.  Crucially she failed to convert any of four break points to lead 4-2 in the second and also had the Russian at love-30 leading 5-4.  But as it was Lisicki missed out on a fourth round rematch of the epic Wimbledon semi-final against Radwanska.

Men's singles round-up

2011 champion Novak Djokovic was close to losing a set in round two as Benjamin Becker served for the opener at 5-4 and held two set points.  Understandably the German became nervous and Djokovic pulled away winning 7-6(7-2) 6-2 6-2 to move into round three.

Defending champion Andy Murray did lose a set but the Wimbledon and Olympic champion produced an excellent fourth set to come through 7-5 6-1 3-6 6-1 against Leonardo Mayer and next faces Florian Mayer.

Tomas Berdych and Stanislas Wawrinka remain on course for a fourth round clash as the fifth seeded Czech came through a tight three set match against American Denis Kudla while 9th seed Wawrinka came through three equally tight sets against veteran Ivo Karlovic.

A year old than Karlovic at 35 Tommy Haas moved through with a straight sets victory over Yen-Hsun Lu while 2006 Australian Open finalist Marcos Baghdatis rolled back the clock to cruise past Kevin Anderson 6-2 6-2 6-2.

Hingis back and out

Martina Hingis made her last appearance at a major at the 2007 US Open when I made my trip to Flushing Meadows.  I didn't see any of her matches but remember watching her play the then very young Victoria Azarenka on one of the big screens thinking she can't lose to Azarenka, but lose she did.


1997 singles champion Martina Hingis was back but suffered double defeat on Day 5

Six years later Hingis was back in the doubles and again she lost, twice.  It was a tough draw for her and Daniela Hantuchova against top seeds Roberta Vinci and Sara Errani.  The Swiss/Slovak team recovered from 0-2 to lead 4-3 with a break in the second but went down 6-3 7-5 with two Hingis double faults on the last two points. 

Later in the day she and Mahesh Bhupathi failed to recreate their 2006 Australian Open winning form in the Mixed as they narrowly fell 7-6(7-5) 7-6(7-5) against Yung-Jan Chan and Robert Lindstedt.  Still it was nice to have the Swiss Miss back, albeit briefly.

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