Hewitt hoping missed kick is good omen in Halle
Date published :
07 Jun 2011 - 18:00:13
Defending champion Lleyton Hewitt is hoping a missed football kick will be a good omen as he prepares to launch his campaign at Halle's ATP tennis tournament on Wednesday.
Hewitt had been due to face French Open finalist Roger Federer on Wednesday in their first-round match -- a repeat of last year's final -- but the Swiss star's withdrawal on Monday means Hewitt now faces Argentina's Leonardo Mayer.
The Australian appeared on stage here on Tuesday to take part in a challenge to kick a football through a hole and although his shot missed, Hewitt was happy.
"I missed a penalty here last year as well, so I'll take that as a good omen for this year's tournament," joked the 30-year-old former world number one.
Having won his doubles match on Monday, Hewitt is now hoping a win over lucky-loser Mayer in the singles will help the 2002 Wimbledon champion launch a successful grass-court campaign.
"The doubles are a good preparation, I enjoy being back in Halle," he said.
"This time, the weather conditions are even better than last year.
"The organisation is great and I really feel ready for my match."
Federer's withdrawal has opened up Hewitt's side of the draw and Ukrainian seventh-seed Alexandr Dolgopolov, as well as local favourites Philipp Kohlschreiber and sixth-seed Florian Mayer potentially lie in wait.
Mayer will face last year's Wimbledon quarter-finalist Yen-Hsun Lu of Taiwan in the second round after he beat German-Jamaican Dustin Brown in a hard-fought three sets duel, which saw Brown fire down an incredible 20 aces.
Mayer was unimpressed despite his 7-6 (8/6), 2-6, 6-3 win.
"It was all about winning it," he admitted.
"His play was so unpredictable that you had to take every opportunity ice cold.
"I had no chance up until the third set."
Mayer also took a dig at the playing surface in Halle.
"The surface is not as good as Wimbledon. The people take great care of the grass, but it is clearly much faster and that doesn't suit my game," he said.
Mayer will be joined in the second round by fellow seeds Milos Raonic of Canada and Serbia's Viktor Troicki in the second-round.
Eighth-seed Raonic saw off Spain's Daniel Gimeno-Traver 1-6, 7-6 (7/5), 6-2, while Troicki beat German wildcard Mischa Zverev in straight sets 6-2, 6-3.
Davis Cup winner Troicki faces Igor Andreev of Russia in the next round, while Raonic takes on Germany's Tobias Kamke.
