Hewitt relieved after passing Blake test

Australia’s Lleyton Hewitt breathed a massive sigh of relief after battling past American James Blake in the second round of the Australian Open today.

Hewitt lost the first set and was a set point down in the second before winning what proved to be the pivotal tie-break.

Blake, who broke his neck last year and contracted a virus which left him temporarily paralysed down one side of his face, injured his hand with a despairing dive on the final point of the tie-break and was never able to reproduce his best form from then on.

Hewitt, who has never been past the fourth round in his home grand slam, eventually wrapped up a 4-6 7-6 6-0 6-3 victory and will face Argentina’s Juan Ignacio Chela in the next round.

“He’s a dangerous player,” admitted the third seed, picked out by world number one Roger Federer as the main threat to his title. “He had not a lot to lose when he went out there.

“He’s got as good a forehand as anyone when it’s on. I had opportunities in both the first and second sets and wasn’t able to get those breaks.

“He came up with some big serves on all the break points I had and I just had to hang in there and wait for my opportunities.”

Despite the result, Blake, who suffered fractured vertebrae in his neck after crashing into a net post in Rome last year, was thrilled just to be back in top level action at all.

“It’s fun to be out there. I had a great time,” said Blake, who views the injury as a blessing in disguise as he got to spend time with his father Thomas, who passed away from cancer in July.

“I live a charmed life right now. I’ve obviously had some tragedy but to look at the big picture, I’m a lucky person. If I had hit my head differently, I could have been paralysed.

“So coming back and playing, being in a tiebreaker with one of the best players in the world, that’s what I missed. To come out here and play this well gives me a little bit of an encouraging attitude towards the rest of the year.”

Elsewhere in the men’s singles, Sebastian Grosjean became the second highest seed to make an early exit after a shock defeat by fellow Frenchman Jean-René Lisnard.

Grosjean, the 14th seed, looked to be cruising to victory when he took the first two sets against Lisnard, who had to win three matches in qualifying to get into the main draw.

But the world number 142 had other ideas and stormed back to take the next three sets and move into the third round of a grand slam for the first time in his career.

Olympic champion Nicolas Massu was earlier forced to retire hurt during his second-round match.

Massu lost the first set 6-0 and was 2-0 down in the second to Germany’s Phillip Kohlschreiber when he withdrew with an ankle injury.

The same problem caused the Chilean to pull out of the Kooyong exhibition event in Melbourne last week and the 18th seed also received treatment on his back during his first round win over Anthony Dupuis, which took nearly four hours.

Andrei Pavel, the 17th seed, followed Massu out of the tournament, suffering a shock defeat to American qualifier Bobby Reynolds.

Reynolds, 24, is playing in the Australian Open for the first time and had won only one Grand Slam match in his career before arriving in Melbourne.

However, he dispatched Pavel 7-6 6-2 6-2 to book a third-round clash with Rafael Nadal.

Nadal needed five sets to get the better of Mikhail Youzhny, the match lasting three hours and 38 minutes on Rod Laver Arena.

Youzhny looked in control when he led by two sets to one and 2-0 in the fourth, but after losing his serve the Russian received lengthy treatment on his left thigh.

Nadal sensed his chance had come and saved a match point to take the set 7-5, the 18-year-old Spaniard then taking the decider to seal a 6-1 4-6 4-6 7-5 6-3 victory.

Argentina’s Guillermo Canas also progressed to the third round, beating Fernando Verdasco in four sets.

Canas ended the challenge of Britain’s Tim Henman in the third round 12 months ago, and could meet the seventh seed again in the fourth round this year.

Sixth seed Guillermo Coria needed almost four hours to beat Brazil’s Ricardo Mello in four sets, winning 6-4 6-7 6-3 7-6 in a match more suited to the French Open.