Lleyton Hewitt remains in fine form by kicking off quarterfinal action in Atlanta with a three-set defeat of Ivan Dodig on Friday. Next up for Hewitt is John Isner, who held off James Blake in a pair of tiebreakers.
(7) Lleyton Hewitt d. (3) Ivan Dodig 1-6, 6-3, 6-0
Hewitt mounted a second comeback at the 2013 BB&T Atlanta Open, this time from a set down during quarterfinal action on Friday afternoon. The 32-year-old Aussie had trailed Rhyne Williams 6-2 in the first-set tiebreaker in round two before storming back to win in straights. Against Dodig, Hewitt lost the first five games of the match and dropped the opening set 6-1 only to recover for a victory that required just one hour and 19 minutes.
                                                           Ivan Dodig
                                                          Lleyton Hewitt
Dodig fired 17 aces, but 14 of those came in the first two sets–including eight in the opener–and he put in a mere 51 percent of his first serves. That statistic quickly caught up with the 36th-ranked Croat, who wilted amidst the heat and was borderline hopeless against Hewitt in baseline rallies over the final two sets. Hewitt seized his first break of the day at 4-3 in the second and from there he was off to the races. Atlanta’s No. 7 seed ended the match on a nine-game winning streak, setting up a semifinal showdown against.
(1) John Isner d. James Blake 7-6(1), 7-6(5)
Isner was up to his old tiebreaker tricks as he improved to 3-0 lifetime against Blake after one hour and 27 minutes. After surviving an impressive Christian Harrison 7-6(7), 4-6, 7-5 in his tournament opener on Thursday night, the top seed was clearly in for another tough one right from the start against his friend and occasional doubles partner. Both Americans held serve the entire way in the first set without facing a break point. In the decider, however, Isner seized an immediate mini-break for 2-0 and got another for 5-1 when his opponent double-faulted.
                                                            James Blake
                                                              John Isner
Blake had a golden chance to win the second without even going to a ‘breaker, but his only break of the match for 2-0–and an eventual 3-0 advantage–quickly went by the wayside. The 33-year-old gave back the break midway through the set before managing to make the second tiebreaker more competitive than the first. Blake stayed on serve the whole way until he found himself down match point at 5-6, when a wide forehand ended his upset hopes. Isner fired 21 aces en route to another meeting with Hewitt, who took down the two-time Atlanta runner-up earlier this month in the Newport semifinals.
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Dodig seemed to have that match in total control. He looked unbeatable in that 1st set but just as Ricky pointed out, he started missing that 1st serve and Hewitt just fought his way back. Vamos!
another Isner-Hewitt showdown. Who ya got?