Hewitt rolls back years to beat Del Potro

ByReuters

Updated 14/06/2013 at 19:23 GMT

Something about the lawns of London bring out the best in Australian veteran Lleyton Hewitt and he gave a glimpse of the grasscourt arts to beat Juan Martin del Potro in the quarter-finals of the Aegon Championships.

Lleyton Hewitt reacts during match point in his men's singles tennis match against Argentina's Juan Martin Del Potro at the Queen's Club (Reuters)

Image credit: Reuters

The 32-year-old mixed skidding slices, sharp volleys and accurate serving to keep powerful third seed Del Potro under wraps in a 6-2 2-6 6-2 victory on a sun-splashed centre court at Queen's Club, ending the match at a gallop.

The former Wimbledon champion and world number one and four-times Queen's Club winner will face Croatia's Marin Cilic in the last four after the defending champion beat second seed Tomas Berdych 7-5 7-6(4).

Hewitt, bidding to become the oldest player to win the traditional pre-Wimbledon warm-up tournament, dominated the first set but Argentine Del Potro found his range with some thumping groundstrokes to square the match.

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Unseeded Hewitt never panicked though and took charge in the fourth game of the decider, breaking Del Potro to love and then holding to love to establish a 4-1 lead.

He finished the match with a classic approach shot and volleyed winner before punching the air.

"I was a bit scratchy in the first match and haven't really put a foot wrong since," said Hewitt, who is second only to Roger Federer for match wins on grass amongst active players. "The second set he played incredible tennis."

Hewitt has been plagued by hip, foot and ankle injuries in recent years, is 82nd in the world rankings but remains a class act, especially on grass.

"I love playing as many weeks on grass as possible," said the father of three.

"Yeah, that's why the Olympics and playing Newport last year was so special to me because I could play a bigger chunk of tournaments. I think it's a unique surface.

"There are certain players that play really well on it."

Queen's men's results

Quarter-finals

Lleyton Hewitt (Australia) beat 3-Juan Martin Del Potro (Argentina) 6-2 2-6 6-2

5-Marin Cilic (Croatia) beat 2-Tomas Berdych (Czech Republic) 7-5 7-6(4)

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