Hewitt takes centre stage in Vegas

General / Editor / 04 March 2007 /

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Lleyton Hewitt booked his place in the Las Vegas Open final after beating former world number one, Marat Safin, 7-5 6-1.
Australia's Hewitt took just 81 minutes to see off his Russian opponent and will play Austrian Juergen Melzer, who came from 5-3 down in the final set to beat unseeded Russian teenager Evgeny Korolev 6-7 6-2 7-6, in the final.

Safin made a critical error when he sent a forehand return into the net to allow Hewitt to claim victory.

And for Hewitt, who showed no lasting effects from a recent hamstring injury, it was a welcome win.

"My last two matches have been pretty good. The first two I was more mentally worried about my hamstring," he said.
"Once I got through those I feel I have really stepped it up.

"Marat came at me right from the start. I think his ball striking was as good as I've seen it in a long time, he was hitting the ball very clean and heavy."

Hewitt is the 1.16 favourite to triumph in Nevada while Melzer can be backed at 5.1 to cause an upset.

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