Feisty Hewitt Stops Gaudio in 5 at French Open

Posted on June 1, 2007

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.