Lleyton Hewitt has said that he wants to play against Andy Murray at some stage in the Brisbane International tennis tournament which is going to start from 30th of December this year. Hewitt has played only one match against Murray so far in his career. That match was played 6 years ago at San Jose. Hewitt had lost the match. After that, these two players haven’t taken on each other, but, it might happen in the Brisbane International tennis tournament.
When Hewitt was asked if he wants to face Andy Murray in the Brisbane International, he said, “Murray is a great player and no player wants to face him in the first round. But, I would like to take him on at some stage in the tournament.”
“Murray has had a fantastic last season. He has improved considerably as a player. When he had first burst on to the scene, he was not as versatile as he is now. He has worked very hard in the last couple of years and he is one of the best in the world at this point of time.”
When asked about his performance in the last season, Hewitt said, “Last season, I had a lot of fitness issues and that reflected on my performance. But, my fitness improved a lot towards the end of the season and I am 100% fit at the moment. In the last season, at times, I had to go into the matches after taking injections. But, it’s not the case now. I am feeling a lot better physically as well as mentally.”
“Now that my fitness has improved, I hope that I would put up a much better performance in the upcoming season and would win a few titles.”
Robin Soderling’s compatriot, Sofia Arvidsson, has defeated Lucie Safarova of Czech Republic in the first round of the Generali Ladies Linz 2012. Arvidsson won the match by 3-6, 6-2, 7-5.
Safarova was given the fourth seed in the competition and she was expected to win the first round match easily. The Czech player looked in supreme form in the first set, but, as the match went on, her performance gradually deteriorated and she lost the plot. Arvidsson took 2 hours and 3 minutes to secure the victory.
Safarova’s service was broken in the very first game of the first set and she was trailed by 0-2 at the end of the second game. But, Arvidsson didn’t manage to maintain the lead for too long. Safarova managed to level the scores by sneaking a breakthrough in the fourth game. The next three games went with the serve and the scorecard was saying 4-3 in the favour of Safarova at the end of the 7th game. Safarova got another breakthrough in the eighth game and the score became 5-3. The Czech player only had to hold her service in the ninth game to seal the set and that’s what she did. She easily served out the ninth game and won the first set by 6-3.
In the second set, Arvidsson played with lot of aggression. She won five out of the first six games to take a profound lead of 5-1. Safarova broke Arvidsson’s service in the seventh game, but, that was it for her in the set. She lost her serve in the following game and the set was won by Arvidsson.
In the final set, both the players showed a lot of intensity, but, Arvidsson held her nerves in the last two games and won the final set by 7-5. Safarova’s service was broken thrice in the third set.
In the second round, Arvidsson will take on Lucie Hradecka of Czech Republic.
Robin Soderling’s compatriot, Sofia Arvidsson, has been defeated by Ana Ivanovic of Serbia in the second round of the US Open at the Flushing Meadows. Ivanovic won the match in the straight sets by 6-2, 6-2. The Swedish player kept struggling throughout the match and didn’t manage to find a way to upset Ivanovic. The Serbian player looked in terrific form and dominated Arvidsson right from the first minute of the match.
Arvidsson started making unforced errors right from the beginning of the match. Ivanovic got a breakpoint in the opening game of the match and she didn’t miss the opportunity. She broke Arvidsson’s service to take a lead of 1-0. Ivanovic held her service in the next game and the score became 2-0. Arvidsson managed to level the scores by breaking Ivanovic’s service in the fourth game. But, that was it for Arvidsson in the first set. She wasn’t able to win any more game in the set. Ivanovic won the last four games in a row and grabbed the first set easily. In the second set, things were not much different from the first one. Ivanovic created a number of opportunities and capitalized on most of them. She broke the service of the Swedish player four times and won the second set by 6-2 to wrap up the match.
In the post match interview, Ivanovic said that Arvidsson is a good player and she played some fantastic return shots, but, she was not that good on her service which ultimately cost her match. As per Ivanovic, she is happy with the way she played her forehand shots. She desperately wants to get back at the top of the rankings again and for this, she would have to keep winning matches one after the other. She is in good form at the moment and she would like to continue playing in the same way in the further matches as well. In the third round, Ivanovic will play against Sloane Stephens of USA.
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December 19, 2012 7:05 am | 
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