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"I'd love a shot at Rusedski," says Hewitt
NOTTINGHAM, England, June 15 - Australian teenager Lleyton Hewitt, conqueror of Arnaud
Clement in his opening match of the Nottingham Open on Tuesday, said he was relishing the
prospect of meeting top seed Greg Rusedski.
"I would love a shot at Greg, although I would have to return better than I did
against Clement," said Hewitt, 18, who reached the semifinals of the London
Grasscourt championships at Queen's Club last week before losing to
world number one Pete Sampras on a final set tiebreak.
Hewitt, who would meet Rusedski in the quarter-finals, beat Frenchman Clement 7-6 4-6 6-2
in a match spanning two hours 12 minutes.
"The expectations are a lot higher for me now but that is not such a bad thing,"
said Hewitt. "I think I can rise to all these challenges."
Rusedski faces Jan-Michael Gambill in a second round encounter on Wednesday after the
American beat compatriot Chris Woodruff 7-6 6-4.
TEN: HEWITT A BOY FOR ALL SEASONS
By Bill Pierce
NOTTINGHAM, England, June 15 PA - Teenage Aussie whizz-kid Lleyton Hewitt showed once more
he can be a young man for all Grand Slam seasons.
The 18-year-old reached the second round at Nottingham with a solid 7-6 4-6 6-2 win over
Frenchman Arnaud Clement.
He has risen a stunning 609 places in the world rankings in the space of a year and is now
close to the top 30 after pushing Pete Sampras all the way at Queen's last week,
The blond, long-haired Hewitt also proved he has common sense as well as class. He said:
"I've come a long way in a short time but there's still a long way to go.
"I was thrilled to be able to push Pete so far at Queen's last week. I'm proud of
that performance but I also know that expectations of me are now going to get even higher
and that's pressure I'll have to cope with."
Fellow Australian Andrew Ilie beat British world No.200 Chris Wilkinson in a match left
over from the previous day's rain-spoiled opener.
They were set-all with a tie-break apiece overnight but the 29-year-old from Southampton
had his unreliable service broken in the fifth game of the decider and despite a typically
gritty fight could never recover in a 6-7 7-6
4-6 defeat.
But doubles veteran Mark Woodforde lost in three sets to Guillermo Canas of Argentina
after taking the first set 6-1.
Canas took the next two 7-5 6-3.
On a full day after yesterday's frequent interruptions for rain, Sargis Sargsian, the
Armenian who beat Greg Rusedski at Queen's last week but then fell to Tim Henman in the
semi-finals, was an early casualty, going down in
straight sets to fourth-seeded Frenchman Sebastian Grosjean.
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