| Monday, 23 June 2008 Written by Barry Newcombe Lleyton Hewitt needed all his fighting spirit to defeat gutsy Dutchman Robin Haase in a five-set cracker that gave the 2002 champion a real test in the first round, before the Australian took it 6-7(4-7), 6-3, 6-3, 6-7(1-7), 6-2. Haase, making his Wimbledon debut, matched the Australian all the way, putting the pressure on with his serve and his reach and his ability to cover the court at pace, and grabbed the first set on a tie-break. Hewitt was able to call on his considerable experience of Wimbledon to pull himself back into the match by taking the second and third sets. At the end of the third set Haase called the trainer to the court for attention to both feet.
But Haase was not ready to be counted out. After another tight set, he won the fourth set tie-break for the loss of only one point and began to look as if he could take control of the match. But he barely got a chance. Hewitt raced to a 4-1 lead and showed his determination not to let Haase regain a foothold in the match and when the Dutchman missed a volley on Hewitt's second match, it sealed the match for the Australian.
It meant that Hewitt further improved his record in Wimbledon five-set matches. This was his fifth and he's now won four of them.
"If I get into a fifth set I'm feeling pretty confident," he said. "Obviously I was disappointed that I lost the fourth set because I felt like I had the whole momentum in the fourth set. I just wasn't quite able to get those little chances or take those chances.
"That's the good thing about five sets out there. The fifth set is an advantage set. Even though he played a couple of great sets where I couldn't break his serve, I was still able to get through."
Hewitt said he expected a different sort of match from his second round opponent, Spain’s Albert Montanes.
"On grass he doesn't have the biggest serve. He's not going to serve me off the court like this guy could potentially today. He's got a sneaky sort of slice serve out there and then a pretty good kick second serve, but you're always going to have a shot at it. "The toughest thing, he's a clay court specialist. He's going to have a good forehand and he moves well. But he's not going to feel that comfortable on grass, which is a good thing."
| Court 1 - Gentlemen's Singles - 1st Round | |
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