Wednesday August 18, 2004

Bright start for Aussie Hewitt

WASHINGTON: Olympic absentee Lleyton Hewitt began his warm-up to the US Open by cruising to a 6-1, 6-2 opening-round victory over Dane Kenneth Carlsen on Monday at the US$500,000 Washington Open.

The Australian, seeded second behind Andre Agassi – winner over Hewitt a week ago for the title at Cincinnati – kick-started his run to the New York Grand Slam starting Aug 30 as he reached the second round over Carlsen, now three times a loser against the former world number one.

Hewitt opted months ago to give Athens a miss to better prepare for what he considers a more relevant career goal – a second US Open trophy.

OVERPOWERING: Lleyton Hewitt of Australia returns a shot to Dane Kenneth Carlsen during their match at the Washington Open on Monday. Hewitt won 6-1, 6-2. – APpic

Joining Hewitt at this public park venue is fiance Kim Clijsters and Hewitt's parents, frequent travelling companions for their 23-year-old son.

Hewitt was untested in the first set against Carlsen. In the second set, the Australian broke for 3-2 on a double-fault from the Dane, paving the way to victory in 66 minutes.

In a tournament which was reduced from 48 to 32 players due to the inevitable scheduling conflict with the Games, main draw matches were thin on the ground at the start of the week.

Top seed Agassi, a regular playing here for the 15th consecutive edition and seeking a sixth title at the venue, was starting yesterday against local American Paul Goldstein.

The 34-year-old from Las Vegas admitted that after beating Hewitt in the Cincinnati final, his flagging game has taken a change for the good.

“I turned a big corner last week,” said Agassi, 41-10 at the tournament.

“I've had some great tennis here in the past.

“But you have to get out there and play the matches, get through them, recover and play again.”

The ambience of the national capitol seems to agree with the veteran. “I love it here,” he said.

“I love the heat, the hardcourts, even the humidity.”

In other first-round results, Gilles Muller of Luxembourg advanced as third seed Sjeng Schalken retired to hand the European a 6-1, 0-1 win. Schalken, a 2001 finalist, was suffering with exhaustion.

Fellow Dutchman Raemon Sluiter, excluded from the Olympics despite qualifying under IOC regulations, earned a small measure of revenge as he rallied to dismiss veteran Todd Martin 6-7 (5-7), 7-6 (7-3), 7-6 (7-5).

The American, a finalist 11 years ago, let go while up a break in the final set, then crumbled in a deciding tie-breaker. – AFP

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