Baghdatis Retires, Hewitt Goes on to Face Federer

Lleyton Hewitt was in top form but Marcos Baghdatis had to retire from their Australian Open tennis match.
Baghdatis Retires, Hewitt Goes on to Face Federer
Lleyton Hewitt celebrates after winning his third round match against Marcos Baghdatis on day six of the 2010 Australian Open. (Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)
1/24/2010
Updated:
1/24/2010
<a href="https://www.theepochtimes.com/assets/uploads/2015/07/lleywin96030374_medium.jpg"><img src="https://www.theepochtimes.com/assets/uploads/2015/07/lleywin96030374_medium.jpg" alt="Lleyton Hewitt celebrates after winning his third round match against Marcos Baghdatis on day six of the 2010 Australian Open. (Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)" title="Lleyton Hewitt celebrates after winning his third round match against Marcos Baghdatis on day six of the 2010 Australian Open. (Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)" width="320" class="size-medium wp-image-98578"/></a>
Lleyton Hewitt celebrates after winning his third round match against Marcos Baghdatis on day six of the 2010 Australian Open. (Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)
When Lleyton Hewitt faced off against Marcos Bhagdatis in third-round Australian Open play, many fans hoped for a replay of the five-hour epic Hewitt and Baghdatis played at the 2008 Australia Open. Sadly, this year’s match was a polar opposite.

After losing to Bhagdatis in an ATP tournament in Sydney last week, Hewitt came out fired up and ready. Baghdatis apparently hadn’t yet recovered from his five-set battle against David Ferrer two days prior, he seemed stiff and leaden.

Lleyton Hewitt took only 21 minutes to win the first set in straight games. Hewitt showed great mobility and a hard, precise backhand, while Baghdatis looked stiff and tired. Baghdatis managed only five points in the first six games.

Baghdatis kept rubbing his right shoulder between points; plainly he was in some discomfort. Compared to Hewitt, who was humming with energy, Baghdatis looked like he wanted the match to be over.
<a href="https://www.theepochtimes.com/assets/uploads/2015/07/hew95778218_medium.jpg"><img src="https://www.theepochtimes.com/assets/uploads/2015/07/hew95778218_medium.jpg" alt="Lleyton Hewitt's precise, powerful backhands won him seven straight games against Mardcos Baghdatis. (Matt King/Getty Images)" title="Lleyton Hewitt's precise, powerful backhands won him seven straight games against Mardcos Baghdatis. (Matt King/Getty Images)" width="320" class="size-medium wp-image-98579"/></a>
Lleyton Hewitt's precise, powerful backhands won him seven straight games against Mardcos Baghdatis. (Matt King/Getty Images)


Baghdatis came back in the second set to win two games, but then down 4-2, he withdrew from the match, indicating that his shoulder was causing him too much pain. His coach seemed surprised by the decision, telling an ESPN reporter that he hadn’t known Baghdatis had been having shoulder problems.

“I really was trying to get on top of him early tonight and put pressure on his second serve I was able to do that early on, and obviously he was struggling a little bit as well,” Hewitt told another reporter. “He obviously has a huge week in Sydney last week winning that tournament, but I learned a lot from that loss to him in Sydney last week and it was nice to get revenge.”

This was a huge break for Lleyton Hewitt, who goes on to face number-one-ranked Roger federer in the quarter-finals. After playing only 54 minutes of tennis, and playing very well, Hewitt will be physically rested and mentally psyched for his match against the master.

When asked how he planned to approach his match with Roger Federer, Hewitt replied, “If I go out there and play similar to tonight, if I can execute then I’m going to put Roger under some pressure.

“Roger’s such a great player, there’s no doubting that, and he’s world number on for a reason, but I ‘m going to take it to him. We all know how great Roger is when he’s playing on his terms so you’ve got to take him out of that comfort zone as much as possible.”

<a href="https://www.theepochtimes.com/assets/uploads/2015/07/bagha96030459_medium.jpg"><img src="https://www.theepochtimes.com/assets/uploads/2015/07/bagha96030459_medium.jpg" alt="Marcos Baghdatis talks to the media at a press conference after retiring from his third round match against Lleyton Hewitt. (Matt Blyth/Getty Images)" title="Marcos Baghdatis talks to the media at a press conference after retiring from his third round match against Lleyton Hewitt. (Matt Blyth/Getty Images)" width="320" class="size-medium wp-image-98580"/></a>
Marcos Baghdatis talks to the media at a press conference after retiring from his third round match against Lleyton Hewitt. (Matt Blyth/Getty Images)
Shortly after the match Marcos Baghdatis gave a press conference where he explained that his shoulder had been hurting as bit the day before but he hadn’t thought it was serious.

“I felt it yesterday on the serve, but today I just couldn’t hit the forehand, I couldn’t control the ball. I didn’t think that it would be this painful and this bothersome during the match. When I warmed up I was okay, I felt it a bit on the serve and a bit on the forehand.

“They say it’s the tendon of the biceps. I’ll have an MRI tomorrow and see how it goes.”