Hewitt upsets Soderling in Cincinnati

(AAP) - Lleyton Hewitt dispelled fitness concerns to register a morale-boosting first-round win over French Open runner-up Robin Soderling at the Cincinnati Masters on Tuesday.

Vintage Hewitt saved three match points before battling his way to an impressive 3-6
7-6 (10-8) 6-4 victory over the big-hitting world No.11 to book a meeting with
unseeded German Benjamin Becker.
The two-hour, 10-minute triumph over one of the game's hottest players was just the
tonic for Hewitt - a two-time Cincinnati finalist - ahead of the US Open starting in
New York on August 31.
The Australian had complained of a groin strain after his 6-1 6-4 first-round loss
to Juan Carlos Ferrero last week in Montreal but showed no signs of any discomfort
as he produced yet another signature comeback.
"In Montreal, I couldn't compete, which is frustrating. My body felt a lot better
today," he said.
"That was the difference. It gave me a lot of confidence to be able to actually go
out there and compete."
Soderling was the man who ended Rafael Nadal's four-year reign at Roland Garros on
his way to the final where he lost to Roger Federer.
It also took the great Federer to stop the powerful Swede in the fourth round at
Wimbledon.
"It was a tough match," said Hewitt, who committed just 11 unforced errors in three
sets.
"It was not easy to go through because he's been playing some great tennis the last
three or four months.
"He's the kind of guy who's going to hit a lot of winners out there. You can see the
confidence. He's such a big hitter out there. He wants to play on his terms and he
wants to dictate play.
"But I played some clutch points and hung in there."
Soderling started on fire, pocketing the opening set in just 34 minutes.
But then Hewitt did what he does best, dug deep, applied some heat and turned the
match around.
As Soderling slowly began to misfire, his booming forehand proving particularly
errant, Hewitt grew in confidence, thundering down five aces to force the second-set
tiebreak.
But after blowing a 5-2 advantage in the breaker, with two serves to come, Hewitt
found himself on the brink of a first-round exit on three occasions.
He refused to die, saving the trio of match points in baseline duels before
releasing a hearty "come on" when Soderling erred once more to put the match back on
level terms.
Like a dog with a bone, Hewitt snatched a break in the opening game of the deciding
set and never looked like relinquishing control.
Hewitt's Davis Cup teammate Chris Guccione also scored a first-round upset, ousting
highly-rated German Philipp Kohlschreiber 7-5 2-6 6-3 to set up a second-round
showdown with French seventh seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.
At No.23 in the world, Kohlschreiber is ranked 101 places above Guccione.
But the Australian left-hander has shown a welcome return to form over the past
month, winning a challenger tournament in California before qualifying this week's
Masters Series event.
Guccione's victory also vindicates Tennis Australia's decision this week to grant
the under-achieving 24-year-old their designated wildcard into the US Open main
draw.