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Home > Sports > News > Reuters > Report

Hewitt survives Norman scare

June 12, 2003 21:52 IST

Lleyton Hewitt survived a huge scare in the shape of a giant Belgian on Thursday before narrowly keeping alive his hopes of a record fourth successive Stella Artois title.

The Australian world number one and Wimbledon champion withstood a barrage of swinging left-handed serves and powerfully-clubbed groundstrokes from Dick Norman before finally advancing 7-6, 3-6, 6-4 in a shade over two hours.

Hewitt's reward is a place in the quarter-finals of the 800,000 Euro grasscourt event, where he will play France's Sebastien Grosjean, a 6-1, 6-4 winner over Todd Reid.

Hewitt was made to fight for his victory over the 2.03 metre Norman on a slick grasscourt and after nicking the opening set on a tiebreak he was powerless to prevent Norman from charging through the second to square matters at Queen's Club.

With clouds gathering overhead, the two seemed inseparable in the third set as it lurched towards what looked like an inevitable tiebreak.

At 4-4, Norman threw everything at Hewitt, forcing the top seed to fight off six break points.

A cheeky lob over the enormous Norman clinched Hewitt the game and five points later the match was his when the Belgian's backhand rolled along the turf into the net.

In later action, second seed Andre Agassi takes on former Wimbledon champion Richard Krajicek while British number one Tim Henman meets France's Cyril Saulnier.


© Copyright 2003 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon.



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