Hewitt Survives First Round Scare

Lleyton Hewitt survived a stiff examination from Swedish qualifier Magnus Larsson to win 6-3 3-6 6-1 6-7 6-2 this morning and avoid the humiliation of a second consecutive first round loss at the Australian Open.

The world's finest was knocked out of last year's Melbourne tournament after suffering a bout of chickenpox and almost suffered the same fate again after a surprisingly tough encounter from the Swede, a former top 10 player now ranked 108th in the world.

Larsson took the second set when he broke Hewitt's serve for the only time in the match, then snatched the fourth in a tiebreak to force a deciding fifth set.

Jolted into action, Hewitt quickly regained control by breaking the Swede twice to seal victory after three-and-a-quarter hours and set up a second round encounter with fellow Australian Todd Larkham.

Hewitt won the US Open in 2001 and Wimbledon last year but says his main aim this year is to win the Australian Open. The last Aussie to win the title was Mark Edmondson in 1976.

He took last week off to save his energy for the Open after a mixed performance at the Hopman Cup where he helped Australia reach the final but lost singles matches to Jiri Novak and James Blake.