MELBOURNE, Australia -- Lleyton Hewitt's dream of a
breakthrough Grand Slam title on home soil survived a
blue-and-yellow assault on Tuesday as he edged past Sweden's
Jonas Bjorkman 7-5, 4-6, 2-6, 6-3, 6-2 in his first round match at
the Australian Open.
|  | | Australia's Lleyton Hewitt falls to his knees to celebrates his victory over Jonas Bjorkman of Sweden in their men's singles match Tuesday. Hewitt won 7-5, 6-4, 6-2, 3-6, 6-2. |
Hewitt makes little secret of the fact he covets an
Australian Open crown the most among the four Grand Slams.
His campaign looked to be heading for a premature end
against the accomplished Bjorkman before he rallied from two
sets to one down to win a marathon encounter.
The 19-year-old Adelaide scrapper, winner of the Sydney
International tournament last week and a huge favourite with
Australian fans, needed all his fighting qualities as he defied
a hamstring strain to win in three hours and 42 minutes on
centre court.
Exhorting himself to "c'mon" on almost every point, seventh
seed Hewitt seemed on the ropes when he dropped the second and
third sets after needing treatment on his right leg.
But the world No. 7 fought back, fending off three
break points in the sixth game of the fourth set and breaking
Bjorkman twice in that set and then twice more in the decider.
Hewitt completed the victory in the best tussle of the
tournament so far on his third match point before sinking to his
knees as the crowd screamed themselves hoarse.
"The adrenaline is still pumping," said Hewitt after what he
labelled one of the best wins of his career. "I was really
hurting out there.
"I twinged my hamstring in practice a couple of days ago and
that's why I had to have treatment. I hung in there and thank
God it was enough."
Hewitt, a semifinalist at last year's US Open, earned a
second-round clash with German Tommy Haas, who beat him in the
quarterfinals in Adelaide earlier this month.
Haas went on to win that tournament while Hewitt regrouped
to successfully defend his Sydney International crown last week.
He defeated world No. 4 Magnus Norman of Sweden in the
final to become the first man since Pete Sampras in 1993-94 to
win back-to-back titles in Sydney.
But it is the Australian Open that he thirsts for most, and
for a while it looked as if he and the crowd were going to be
disappointed.
In the middle stages of the match it was Bjorkman who was
making the running and the chanting of the blue and yellow-clad
band of Swedish fans, complete with viking-style hats and
helmets, rang out loudly.
Swedish supporters have been a feature of the Australian
Open since the glory days of Stefan Edberg and Mats Wilander in
Melbourne during the 1980s and on Tuesday they sang in unison
throughout the changes of ends.
But at the finish it was the Australian fans who were left
to celebrate. Hewitt, far from feeling the pressure of
expectation, thrives on playing in front of a home crowd and it
showed.
"It was a tough fight out there," Hewitt said. "To come here
in a Grand Slam it (the home support) is a huge advantage ... they
really lifted me."
Hewitt admitted his hamstring strain was a concern ahead of
his clash with Haas but said he would have treatment in the next
two days and was confident of being fit.
"Davis Cups and Grand Slams are all you live for as a tennis
player," Hewitt said. "I'm going to go out there and try and
give it everything I've got."
Bjorkman, who also received courtside treatment on the big
toe of his right foot, rued some missed opportunites.
"In the fourth (set) I was probably one point away from
game, set and match," the Swede said.
"He was lucky to escape this time, hopefully next time it
will be a different story. But all credit to him for fighting
back at the end."
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