Did David Nalbandian's 3-6, 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (1), 9-7 win over Lleyton Hewitt unofficially get this year's Australian Open "into gear"—forgive the choice of phrase there, please—as I said earlier? It would have helped if the home favorite won, of course, but this was a match that Rod Laver Arena sorely needed. Its first three matches of the day session were brutal, with the three winning players dropping a total of five games. Then came the clunker of clunkers, Kim Clijsters' 6-0, 6-0 pasting of Dinara Safina.
Maybe we'll forget this match even happened by week's end, but it was the best match on Tuesday, which became Wednesday as the contest wore on. After splitting the first four sets—a loss in its own right for Hewitt, who probably should have prevailed in four—the 29-year-olds played an enthralling fifth. Nalbandian took an early lead and appeared to be on his way to the win, serving for it at 5-4. Undeterred, Hewitt broke serve, held his own, and then held two match points when Nalbandian served again. The Aussie crowd appeared to have been rewarded for its patience and persistent support.
That's about the time Nalbandian added another plot twist to an already busy script. He saved one match point with a fantastic volley off a well-struck Hewitt return; the other was saved in far easier fashion. The Argentine's backhand can be breathtaking, but so can his touch, as we saw throughout this match.
Earlier in the set, Nalbandian showed off a slice backhand winner that prompted commentator Patrick McEnroe to recall the great Ken Rosewall. Nalbandian hit a similar shot with Hewitt serving at 7-7, 0-30, giving him triple break point. Even Nalbandian couldn't screw that up, at least not on this day. He broke serve, then sealed the match with a lob winner on his first match point. For Nalbandian, he moves on to play Richard Berankis. For Hewtt, it was a tough way to lose, but better to go down swinging than to go down love and love.
—Ed McGrogan
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