Safin no match for Hewitt

Australian wins in straight sets to move into the 2nd round

LAS VEGAS: Australia’s Lleyton Hewitt got his title defence off to a flying start by rolling over Russian Marat Safin 6-2 6-1 in the first round of the ATP Las Vegas tournament on Monday.

Hewitt needed just 58 minutes to oust Safin, breaking him in the fourth game of both sets. The two former world number ones had split their previous 12 meetings. They faced each other in the semi-finals here last year, with the 26-year-old Hewitt posting a 7-5 6-1 victory.

Taking advantage of Safin’s poor serving, Hewitt converted four-of-six break points. The Russian had three aces and three double-faults and won just 40 percent (eight-of-20) of his first-serve points.

Safin, who has fallen to 87th in the world rankings, was playing in only his fourth match this year. He reached the second round at the Australian Open and lost in the first round last week at Memphis.

The top seed in this hardcourt event is Chile’s Fernando Gonzalez, who captured his 10th career title last month at Vina Del Mar and reached the Australian Open final a year ago. Two other seeds won their first-round matches on Monday. Number four Guillermo Canas of Argentina ousted Sweden’s Thomas Johansson, 6-3 7-6 (3), and No. 8 Nicholas Kiefer of Germany defeated countryman Benjamin Becker, 6-4 6-3.