Hewitt Halts Gaudio at French Open; Roche Ready to Coach Hewitt
Posted on June 1, 2007
Feisty Hewitt Stops Gaudio in 5 at French Open
Lleyton Hewitt sat out approximately 10 weeks nursing various injuries before the start of the 2007 claycourt season, but it's unclear how this respite endowed him with the ability to play on clay.
The Australian, at home on hardcourts and grass, has always had problems generating his own pace on the crushed red brick, but over the last month has slid around Europe like a claycourt expert, confounding and beating some of the best claycourt players in the game.
Thursday at the French Open the No. 14 seed came back from two sets down to defeat former Roland Garros champion Gaston Gaudio. Not a picture of mental mettle, Gaudio nonetheless looked impressive in leaping out to a two-set lead before Hewitt ground his way back into the match for an eventual 4-6, 3-6, 6-2, 6-4, 6-2 victory.
"He's got to be one of the toughest second-round players to play," Hewitt said of Gaudio. "You just don't really know what you're going to get from him. So at first, he played fantastically. I just had to try and find a way to change things around early in the third set."
Hewitt lost to Gaudio in the semifinals in 2004, the year the Argentine went on to win the title over a choking Guillermo Canas in the final.
Gaudio appeared to slow after wrapping up the second set.
"At the end, I couldn't control the match anymore," Gaudio said. "It is true that I fought very hard. Even in the fifth set, I can tell you that I pulled out all the stops."
Seeded upsets on the day were orchestrated by Spaniards Fernando "Hot Sauce" Verdasco (d. (21) Tursunov) and Oscar Hernandez (d. (28) Kohlschreiber).
Seeded winners into the third round were (2) Rafael Nadal (d. Cipolla), (6) Novak Djokovic (d. Recouderc in four), (7) Ivan Ljubicic (d. Wawrinka in four), (12) David Ferrer (d. Hartfield), (16) Marcos Baghdatis (d. Pless), (20) Jarkko Nieminen (d. Montcourt), and (23) Carlos Moya (d. Serra).
Winners advancing in all-unseeded matches Thursday were Olivier "All We Need is Just a Little" Patience (d. Zabaleta in five), Juan Pablo Brzezicki (d. Garcia-Lopez, bagel in the third), Jan Hajek (d. Ulihrach in five), Jonas Bjorkman (d. Karlovic in five), and Albert Montanes (d. Gulbis in four).
Nicolas Massu and Igor Andreev were suspended due to darkness at one-set all, and Paul-Henri Mathieu vs. Gilles Simon never started due to darkness.
Highlights of Friday play are (1) Roger Federer vs. Potito Starace, Frenchman Gael "Force" Monfils vs. (15) David Nalbandian, an all-French delight for the Roland Garros crowd in Paul-Henri Mathieu vs. Gilles Simon, (4) Nikolay Davydenko vs. serve-and-volleyer Michael Llodra, (29) Filippo Volandri vs. (7) Ivan Ljubicic, (17) Juan Carlos Ferrero vs. (13) Mikhail Youzhny, (9) Tommy Robredo vs. Janko Tipsarevic, and Kristof Vliegen vs. (19) Guillermo Canas.
Sharapova, Serena Muddle Through at French Open
Two of the crowd favorites at the French Open advanced somewhat-easily into the third round Thursday when No. 2-seeded Maria Sharapova and No. 8 Serena Williams subdued their opponents while dealing with various difficulties.
Sharapova steamrolled American Jill Craybas 6-2, 6-1, but the leggy Russian has never been a good mover on clay and says the problem lingers in the back of her mind.
"I feel like a cow on ice," Sharapova said. "I don't play on clay for the other 10 months of the year. It's not as natural for me."
The younger Williams sister blew past opponent Milagros Sequera 6-0 in the first set before her game fell apart, escaping with a 7-6(3) result in the second.
"It was weird," Williams said. "I didn't feel like I played my best tennis throughout the whole match. I was kind of struggling out there to get the rhythm."
Other seeded winners into the fourth round Thursday were (3) Svetlana Kuznetsova (d. Shaughnessy), (5) Amelie Mauresmo (d. Dechy 6-1 in the third), (7) Ana Ivanovic (d. Mirza), (9) Anna Chakvetadze (d. Szavay in three), (14) Patty Schnyder (d. K.Bondarenko), (15) Shahar Peer (d. Gallovits), (17) Katarina Srebotnik (d. Dushevina), (21) Ai Sugiyama (d. Tu in three), (24) Anabel Medina Garrigues (d. Likhovtseva), and (25) Lucie Safarova (d. Pratt 0-and-1).
Unseeded 19-year-old Italian Karin Knapp (d. (22) A.Bondarenko in three) led the upsets, joined by 19-year-old Russian Alla Kudryavtseva (d. (29) Dulko 8-6 in the third), and Slovak Dominika Cibulkova (d. (32) Muller).
In the only all-unseeded match-up Ioana Ralucca Olaru beat Tatiana Poutchek, and (12) Daniela Hantuchova vs. Olga Poutchkova was postponed due to darkness.
Highlights of Friday play are (4) Jelena Jankovic vs. (26) Venus Williams, (1) Justine Henin vs. (28) Mara Santangelo, (18) Marion Bartoli vs. (13) Elena Dementieva, (8) Serena Williams vs. Michaella Krajicek, (10) Dinara Safina vs. (23) Francesca Schiavone, and (27) Sam Stosur vs. (6) Nicole Vaidisova.
TENNIS-X NEWS, NOTES, QUOTES AND BARBS
Any others frustrated when ESPN shows tape of matches in the afternoon that The Tennis Channel showed live earlier in the day, when they could be showing live tennis?...French Open officials says they will have a retractable roof by 2011. What's the hurry?...Tony Roche says he wants to talk to Lleyton Hewitt about coaching him after the claycourt season...After so many stories saying Lleyton Hewitt was inspired in his comeback by training with Andre Agassi, Hewitt says it never happened and he only worked some with former Agassi trainer Gil Reyes.
Also see:
Players Vote to Uphold Back-to-Back Tennis Masters Series
http://www.tennis-x.com/vachblog/2007-05-31/55.php
French Open Might be a Real Fitness Test
http://www.tennis-x.com/xblog/2007-05-28/173.php