Hewitt puts on masterly display

13 April 2012

Top seed Lleyton Hewitt dished out a tactical lesson and world No2 Gustavo Kuerten proved he is back to his best as they both posted solid second-round wins at the Hamburg Masters.

But British No 1 Tim Henman is out after being beaten by Romania's Adrian Voinea 7-6, 2-6, 6-4.

Hewitt hammered German wild-card Bjorn Phau 6-3, 6-3. Hitting hard and deep, Hewitt moved the world No138 effortlessly around the court and Phau had very little firepower to make a mark of his own.

The Aussie now faces 14th seed Jiri Novak in the third round after the Czech blasted Felix Mantilla 6-2, 6-0.

Brazilian baselinerKuerten proved beyond all doubt he has recovered from hip surgery with his 6-3, 7-6 beating of Romania's Andrei Pavel.

Kuerten put on a masterful performance to confound critics who thought his return would allow him insufficient time to prepare for the defence of his French Open title in 12 days.

His millimetre- perfect groundstrokes bagged him the first set and a series of courageous drop shots and passes saw him fend off five set points in the second while trailing 6-5 before clinching the tie-break 7-5.

Kuerten now meets 15th seed Guillermo Canas after the Argentine beat Fernando Gonzalez 2-6, 7-6, 6-0.

"I am feeling really good," said Kuerten who underwent surgery in February and returned to the tour a fortnight ago. "I'm playing well, hitting the ball well, but this was a very important win for me. It was the best match I've played since returning."

Less satisfied on a cold and windy day were fifth seed Henman, No8 seed Thomas Johansson and 10th seed Sebastien Grosjean who all lost.

Australian Open champion Johansson fell to Argentine Mariano Zabaleta 6-4, 6-2 while dynamic Spaniard Tommy Robredo put paid to Grosjean's chances 7-5, 7-5.

Henman blew his chance to take over at the top of the Champions Race next week and admitted: "That wasn't the best result this week, but there's plenty to work on." Russian Marat Safin, seeded six, breezed past Spain's Alberto Martin 6-4, 6-2 as 13th seed Andy Roddick moved into round three with a 6-4, 6-4 bashing of Germany's Rainer Schuettler.

Meanwhile, fourth seed Serena Williams marched into round three of the Italian Open with a 6-0, 6-3 demolition of Italy's Rita Grande.

Last year's French Open finalist Kim Clijsters eased in 6-3 6-2 over Russian Elena Likhovtseva, but defending champion Jelena Dokic made hard work of Israel's Anna Smashnova 6-3, 3-6, 6-1.

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Hewitt puts on masterly display

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