Rafael Nadal had to dig deep into his reserves to tame a tenacious Lleyton Hewitt 6-2 5-7 6-4 6-2 in Round 4 of the French Open on Monday.
PARIS: Defending champion Rafael Nadal subdued a battling, never-say-die Lleyton Hewitt to notch up his 57th consecutive claycourt victory and move into the French Open quarterfinals on Monday.
The 20-year-old second seed out-slugged the fighting Australian 14th seed in an enthralling Philippe Chatrier Court duel winning 6-2 5-7 6-4 6-2. Nadal now meets either French 25th seed Gael Monfils or Serbia’s unseeded Novak Djokovic for a place in the last four. But Hewitt can leave Paris safe in the knowledge that he pushed the clay court master all the way having come into the tournament nursing calf and ankle injuries which had threatened to keep him out of Roland Garros for a second successive year.
Hewitt had beaten Nadal in all their three previous meetings but those wins had all come on hard courts. After spending almost five hours on court on Saturday, including a 93-minute first set, getting past France’s Paul-Henri Mathieu, Nadal was quickly into his rhythm on Monday taking the first set in just 42 minutes. The Spaniard went ahead 4-3 in the second set, a break achieved courtesy of two sizzling defensive drives and a brutal cross-court forehand.
But back came Hewitt, calling on the rugged spirit and determination which saw him win two Grand Slam titles and took him to the world number one spot, and the Australian broke straight back to go 4-4. Nadal suddenly became ragged and he was broken to love to hand his opponent a 6-5 lead. Hewitt gobbled the lifeline to take the set and level the tie.
The Spaniard stepped up his assault in the third set and achieved a break to lead 5-4 with a drop shot that landed at the feet of the charging Hewitt only to spin viciously away like a cricket leg-break. That sapped Hewitt’s spirit as Nadal then served a love game to take the third set. Nadal broke to 2-1 in the fourth set before a double fault handed the break straight back.
Then it was Hewitt’s turn to lose the plot, allowing his opponent to twist the knife a little more with another break to go 3-2. In the seventh game, Nadal won warm applause from the crowd for bringing the umpire’s attention to a ballboy who was suffering an untimely nosebleed and Hewitt’s nose was soon out of joint when Nadal broke again to lead 5-2. Nadal earned two match points and wrapped up the tie when Hewitt hit long.
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