Hewitt ends title drought

 

Originally published on: 26/02/10 12:25

The Australian, who had been winless since Las Vegas in March 2007, qualified for his first clay court final in a decade by defeating over Evgeny Korolev of Russia in the semi-finals.

Hewitt landed only 34% of his first serves during the match, which was delayed for 85 minutes due to rain, but broke Odesnik three times en route to taking the opening set.

The 28-year-old broke the American twice early in the second set to race out to a 3-0 lead but lost the next five games, three on his own service, to trail 5-3.

But Odesnik was unable to force a deciding set, dropping the next four games and presenting Hewitt with his first clay court title since Delray Beach in 1999 with an unforced error on match point.

It was the 498th career win for Hewitt, who is coming back from hip surgery last year.

“This is what all the hard work is for, to play weeks like this and have this kind of feeling at the end,” said Hewitt after the match, which lasted two hours and three minutes.

“It makes going through the surgery and all the hard work worth it so, it’s good stuff.”

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