MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) Lleyton Hewitt beat Gael Monfils 7-5, 6-3 on Saturday to win the Kooyong Classic, a traditional warmup tournament for the Australian Open.
The 29-year-old Australian took a 4-1 lead after breaking Monfils' serve twice. He was serving for the set at 5-3 but the Frenchman fought back, forcing Hewitt to four set points in the 12th game before sealing it.
After trading breaks in the second set, Hewitt won the last four games to finish off the final in 89 minutes.
Hewitt, a former world No. 1, will begin his Australian Open campaign next week against longtime rival David Nalbandian. Hewitt has won Wimbledon and the U.S. Open, but never his national title.
Austria's Jurgen Melzer beat Nikolay Davydenko 7-6 (4), 6-2 in a playoff for third.