Hewitt rolls back the years

 

Originally published on: 26/02/10 12:37

The 2002 champion reckons he is playing his best tennis for four years and, although that may not be enough to enable him to bridge the seven-year gap, he is in the last 16 for the sixth year in a row and could become a dangerous semi-final opponent for Andy Murray.

Fresh from his memorable second-round win over fifth seed Juan Martin Del Potro and showing no sign of the hip injury that forced him out of tennis for much of last year, Hewitt overcame Germany’s Philipp Petzschner in straight sets.

Not that there was anything straightforward about his 7-5 7-6 (7/3) 6-3 triumph in the noisy cauldron of Court Two, where he lifted the spirits of the green and gold fans who had failed to cheer Australian Sam Stosur to victory over Ana Ivanovic in the women’s singles earlier in the day.

It was nip and tuck from the start against the big-serving German who, despite reaching the third round of Wimbledon for the first time, has still lost more matches on grass than he has won.

The 25-year-old Petzschner did not manage to break the serve of his wily opponent and invariably lost out in the baseline rallies.

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