We don't see as much of Lleyton Hewitt these days - he tends to hibernate for most of the year, mainly coming out for special events such as the Australian Open, and then usually at night. His appearances are usually brief compared to the glory days when a fortnight of sightings were the norm, but local tennis fans have maintained an interest in his prospects for what is his 19th successive Melbourne Park gig.
The opposition for Hewitt in the first night match on Rod Laver Arena on the second day of competition comprised the Chinese player 10 years his junior - Zhang Ze. On paper, the Australian started favourite, for although ranked 87, he still was 100 places higher than the 24 year old.
The nerves of both players dominated the early going, eased somewhat for Hewitt with an ace which secured the opening game. a bunch of careless wayward shots cost Zhang his first service game and Hewitt extended the lead to 3-0, attacking the backhand with success.
Zhang held serve to register his first score, finding his range with some hard hit ground strokes and in the fifth game a shock to everyone when Hewitt was broken to love, courtesy of some withering passing shots to both sides. The match returned to an even keel after a couple of Chinese aces highlighted the sixth game, and in a short space, Hewitt had become the player in defence.
Using his wealth of experience, Lleyton changed it up this time testing out the Zhang forehand and holding to love before piling on the pressure in the eighth game which ultimately saw a double fault from Zhang give a 5-3 position of authority to the local favourite.
Hewitt served out the set with no complication 6-3.
The second set began with two games going to deuce and surprisingly both were won by Zhang, who with the break and leading 2-0 decided to give the audience an exhibition of his talents. Over the next three games his heavy hitting and accurate ground strokes, especially the backhand, overwhelmed a helpless Hewitt whose impotency in the face of the onslaught was stark.
Before we all could complete a blink, Lleyton was 0-5 and 15-40. He managed to extricate himself from the immediate danger, largely due to Zhang mistakes, but the bigger problem was confirmed the very next game as Zhang served out the set 6-1, winning it appropriately with a slashing backhand.
The third set was a disaster for Zhang and a reminder of the player Hewitt has been - there were no mistakes from the Australian and no loss of games, as he just kept putting ball after ball back into play, exasperating Zhang into repeated unforced error, unable to handle the variation of slice and spin and placement.
Less than half an hour was required for Lleyton to have the match clearly back on his terms.
The fourth set appeared to heading in a similar direction after Hewitt achieved 3-0, but to his credit Zhang chipped away, again finding the sweet spot with his ground strokes and eventually cracking open the Australian serve in the seventh game, another backhand deciding the game.
At 4-5, Zhang had 30-0 but Hewitt kept the pressure on and eventually deuce was reached - 4 times it was reached - before a ripping forehand winner set up a fifth match point which Hewitt converted to take the match 6-4 1-6 6-0 6-4
But for a lousy third set Hewitt played pretty well in the face of some excellent if not consistent hitting from Zhang Ze.
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