The expectations of almost everyone for Lleyton Hewitt at the 2012 Aus Open had already been surpassed by his winning through past Andy Roddick and into the third round. Seemingly untroubled on court by the toe injury that caused more angst within media than for the player, Lleyton needed to blunt another big server in order to reach the fourth round and the simple assignment of Novak Djokovic.
The man in question, 21 year old Canadian Milos Raonic, had already beaten Tipsarevic in Chennai this year, and the 23rd seed promised Hewitt his most difficult challenge to date, knowing that the Roddick win was injury assisted.
Surprisingly the big serving Canadian chose to receive first, and Hewitt managed to take the advantage and lead. A portent of things to come was Raonic's first delivery - a 228kph thunderbolt that was past Lleyton and into another postcode before the Aussie swung his racquet. Indeed the serve served Milos well, giving even a great returner such as Hewitt minimal chances to institute pressure before again being placed under pressure himself at the service line.
After 6 games of wham bam from Raonic and do as you can from Hewitt, the first chinks appeared with Lleyton's 4th service game. The Aussie basically stuffed up, playing a number of loose shots before icing the badly baked cake with a double fault. Milos continued to belt out the 200+ kph bullets and won his final 2 serves and the set 6-4.
The second set did give Lleyton more chances on the Raonic serve. Once the Australian could engage the Canadian in a rally, then the game was being played more on Hewitt's terms. The experience and patience could prevail over the younger head. The chances, or half chances to be more accurate, continued to build a mental pressure, and finally Hewitt broke through to lead 5-3, with a Raonic mistake from a defensive lob. Hewitt served it out and it was 1 set each.
The third set was a roller coaster ride, with Hewitt high in the clouds after serving well and breaking Raonic to lead 3-2, only to be brought down to earth with a crash the very next game. Drama packed tennis led us into a tie breaker where Raonic should have been favourite considering his serve. However Hewitt grabbed a 6-3 lead with 2 serves to come. He lost those, and only a shocking forehand error by Raonic at the net saved Lleyton from 6-6 in the tiebreak, instead handing the set to him 7-6.
The fourth set saw Raonic's inexperience borne out with poor shot choices and probably a mental letdown from having seen a real opportunity go begging in the third set. Soon Hewitt capitalised, breaking Raonic once more to lead 3-1 with serve in hand. At 5-3, Lleyton nervously served for the match, and had to save 2 break points before doing the job.
4-6 6-3 7-6 6-3, and the 181st ranked player was booked to play the number one player in the world and reigning Aus Open Champion in the 4th round - a total mismatch on paper, but with Hewitt we know that nothing is assumed and Djokovic would have to earn every point.
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