MELBOURNE—“That’s it,” Andy Roddick said as he walked over to shake Lleyton Hewitt’s hand after the end of the third set. Roddick was only down two sets to one, but he was finished for the night and for the tournament, done in by a month-old hamstring injury that he had aggravated while stretching for a ball early in the second set tonight.
“It was a nightmare for both us,” Hewitt told Jim Courier a minute or so after his 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, ret. win. For Roddick, because he had deliberately eased off on his training this winter to try to avoid the injuries that plagued him last year. For Hewitt, because he had to hold his nerve and stick with his game plan even when he could see that his opponent was hurting. And for tennis fans in general, who, in the three sets that were played, were treated to some vintage tennis from these two veteran Grand Slam champions.
Roddick started well, winning the first set on one break of serve. But even before the American's injury, Hewitt had begun to turn the tables. He began the second set with an eye toward being more aggressive. He moved forward to take his backhand, and looked to ghost into the net whenever possible. The tactic worked, and he earned an early second set break, before Roddick went off court to have his hamstring taped.
From there, Roddick was hampered, particularly moving toward his backhand side. He gave up on routine balls and winced in pain as he ran. Hewitt, meanwhile, stayed with the plan and moved Roddick side to side effectively. Still, Roddick saved three set points serving at 3-5, and jumped out to a love-40 lead when Hewitt served for the set. But Hewitt erased those break points with three first serves, and finished the set with a forehand that bounced once, bounced twice, and finally dropped on Roddick’s side of the net.
It was a cruelly fitting end to a day that Roddick would like to forget, but which, if his injury hangs around, he may not be able to for some time. Hewitt, the old Aussie favorite, lives to grind another day, and to take on another, younger service bomber in Milos Raonic in the third round.
—Steve Tignor