TNT Sports
Hewitt recovers
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Published 02/09/2005 at 22:23 GMT+1
Lleyton Hewitt, the 2001 U.S. Open champion, saved one set point in the first set tie-break against world number 44 Nicolas Acasuso of Spain, before advancing to the third round on Friday. Third seed Hewitt eventually triumphed 7-6 (8-6) 7-6 (7-3) 6-2 for
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Acasuso lost his concentration following a dispute over a line call just before the second set tiebreak and never recovered against his more experienced opponent.
Hewitt sets up a potentially tricky third round clash with American 25th seed Dent.
Dent hit 50 winners and 34 unforced errors in his 6-3 6-2 4-6 7-5 victory over Nicolas Almagro of Spain for a place in the third round.
When the match finally ended, Dent leapt in front of the net and screamed.
"It was a bit disappointing losing that third set in the way that I did," Dent said.
"It was getting a little heated out there between us as well. He was saying: 'vamos' on a couple of my double-faults and easy misses. That fired me up a little bit more. I was pumped."
Hewitt and Dent have met on two previous occasions this season. Dent won their Adelaide Open quarter-final 7-6 6-3, while Hewitt reversed the loss in the Wimbledon fourth round 6-4 6-4 6-7 6-3.
"I know what I'm going to get," Hewitt said about the fourth round match.
"It's just a matter of executing, going out there with a game plan and executing what I need to do out there. It's never easy playing against Taylor. He's going to give me a target and I've got to take my chances when I get them."
SRICHAPHAN TURNS BACK TIME
Paradorn Srichaphan reached the third round of a major championship for the first time in 12 months at Flushing Meadows on Friday.
The Thai ripped 45 winners in a 6-4 7-5 6-3 victory over sixth seed Nikolay Davydenko of Russia, an Australian Open quarter-finalist and French Open semi-finalist this season.
Srichaphan, the world number 51, will next face Italian veteran Davide Sanguinetti, a 3-6 6-1 6-2 6-4 victory over 31st seeded Spaniard Carlos Moya, the 1998 French Open champion and semi-finalist at the U.S. Open in the same year.
FRIDAY WRAP-UP
Belarusian Max Mirnyi, seeded 30th, knocked out Florent Serra of France 7-6 (7-5) 6-7 (4-7) 6-4 7-6 (7-4) and will next play Jarkko Nieminen of Finland. Nieminen beat Björn Phau of Germany 6-2 6-4 5-7 6-4.
Spaniard 17th seed David Ferrer defeated Karol Kucera of the Slovak Republic 6-3 6-0 6-2, while Tim Henman's first round conqueror, Fernando Verdasco of Spain, defeated Chilean Paul Capdeville 6-4 6-2 7-5.
Slovak compatriot Dominik Hrbaty, seeded 15th, knocked out Michael Lammer, one of three Swiss players in the second round, 6-1 6-1 6-3.
Meanwhile, Serbian Novak Djokovic matched his best run at a major championship with an impressive second round win over Croatian Mario Ancic, the 22nd seed. The 18-year-old, ranked 97 and in the same quarter of the draw as Hewitt, won 6-3 5-7 7-6 6-3.
German Nicolas Kiefer booked his place in round three, winning his second match point for a 4-6 4-6 6-4 6-3 6-3 victory over 16th seed Radek Stepanek of the Czech Republic in three hours 32 minutes.
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