AFP
Melbourne
Retiring Australian veteran Lleyton Hewitt faces a big test to keep alive his farewell Grand Slam campaign after winning his opening match on Tuesday. The two-time major winner and former world No 1 overcame young compatriot James Duckworth 7-6 (7/5), 6-2, 6-4 in front of a full house at night on Rod Laver Arena in his last tournament.
A cherished Australian Open triumph has eluded the 34-year-old warrior leading into this year's 20th attempt after coming closest in 2005 when he went down in four sets to Russian Marat Safin in the final. Hewitt's next obstacle is super-fit Spanish eighth seed David Ferrer, with the tenacious Aussie believing he has a chance to win through to the third round.
"He's like a brick wall out there. He competes as well as anyone on tour as well. He moves great," Hewitt said of Ferrer. "He's been just under winning a Grand Slam as well making the final at the French. He's made so many semi-finals of slams. He's a tough customer for nearly anyone."
But despite all that, the Australian veteran gives himself a chance of an upset. "Yeah, I give myself a fighting chance. It's going to be tough, I know that," he said. "But I feel like I'm hitting the ball well enough to go out there and give him a good run."
Hewitt avoided going out in his home Grand Slam in the first round as he has done seven times through his career, to the relief of his thousands of fans.
"I wouldn't say 'comfortable,'" he said of his first-round opponent Duckworth. "Obviously that third set I had to dig deep and make a lot of balls to try to get back into it. He raised his game. I was kind of waiting for him to just dip off a little bit there in the third set. Eventually it happened."
