Tuesday, June 19, 2007

Hewitt has double the fun

Hewitt has double the fun LONDON: Lleyton Hewitt showed his lighter side as he secured his first victory of the grass-court season in a relatively rare doubles pairing at the Artois Championships.
The former Wimbledon champion swapped some of his trademark intensity for smiles and laughter as he teamed with close friend Tim Henman on Tuesday.
The pair obviously enjoyed the hit-out on the lush grass of The Queen's Club as they fought back from a set down to beat Australia's Jordan Kerr and Alexander Peya of Austria 5-7, 6-4, 10-8 in the first round.
It was the third appearance for team Hewitt-Henman after they played together twice in 2002 - in Miami and at the Masters Series in Hamburg.
Chatting occasionally and slapping hands after many points, the pair hauled back a 3-0 deficit in the second set to level the match. It was neck-and-neck in the match tie-breaker but, with Henman serving for the match, the Englishman executed a superb backhand volley to seal victory.
For Hewitt, the win was a welcome hit-out before he began his grasscourt singles campaign aimed at a record fifth title at Queen's and ultimately a second Wimbledon crown.
For Henman, it did little to erase the disappointment of a 7-6 (7-5), 2-6, 6-4 first-round exit to 18-year-old Croatian wildcard Marin Cilic a short time earlier.
In Birmingham, newly crowned French Open doubles champion Alicia Molik continued her winning ways with victory in her first-round match at the DFS Classic.
The Australian fought back from a set down to beat 10th seed Severine Bremond of France 4-6, 6-3, 6-4. However fellow Australian Casey Dellacqua lost her second-round match to Greek 15th seed Eleni Daniilidou 6-4, 6-4.

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