Hewitt cruises into second round
Tuesday, 15 Jan 2008 11:26
Lleyton Hewitt into second round of Australian Open in Melbourne
Home favourite Lleyton Hewitt has eased through to the second round of the Australian Open with a straight-sets win over Steve Darcis.
The 26-year-old Australian, a finalist in Melbourne in 2005, dispatched his Belgian opponent in some style as he lost just three games in three sets on his way to a 6-0 6-3 6-0 victory.
Darcis, ranked 83 in the world and playing at the Australian Open for the first time, was clearly overawed by the occasion and struggled to come to terms with Hewitt's power and presence.
Also making a solid start to his pursuit of a first title down under was world number three Novak Djokovic, who put on an impressive display as he beat Germany's Benjamin Becker 6-0 6-2 7-6.
Djokovic is hoping to break the stranglehold of the world's top two - Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer - when it comes to the grand slams and eased into round two with few complications.
But another seed to crash out early following Andy Murray's elimination yesterday was Croatian 17th seed Ivan Ljubicic, who lost in four sets to Dutch player Robin Haase.
Ljubicic, who lost to Murray in the Kooyong Classic warm-up tournament, looked out of sorts despite taking the first set on a tiebreak and his opponent took full advantage, winning 6-7 6-3 6-0 7-6.