Lleyton Hewitt has rolled into a semifinal berth at Brisbane International 2014 after dispatching little known Romanian qualifier Marius Copil in two straightforward sets, 6-4 6-2, in front of a vocal crowd at Pat Rafter Arena on a baking Friday afternoon.
The veteran Aussie had a reasonably slow start and the pair traded breaks early with Copil looking every bit the man coming off three solid wins in qualifying and a career-best victory over third seed Giles Simon in the previous round.
However, the Romanian would have to be satisfied with that and no more in Brisbane as Hewitt went from strength to strength, looking a pillar of consistency and continually scrambling to create the extra shot; never allowing Copil to get comfortable.
A double fault from the Romanian handed Hewitt the break he needed in the first set and from that point he never looked back, cruising through the match in just over 70 minutes.
Afterwards, Hewitt said he felt like he got better and better as the match went on.
“My movement, my sharpness, everything. I’m really pleased,” he said.
“I felt like in the end I was really sharp, especially on the return of serve.
Hewitt acknowledged his opponent’s recent run of form and the fast start he had in the match today.
“[Copil’s] confidence is up at the moment and we saw that at the start of the match.”
“He was just swinging from the hip right from the word go and it took me a few games just to adjust and work out his strengths and weaknesses,” he said
Hewitt has now had the best start to his Australian summer since 2005, when he made the final of the Australian Open.
“It’s been a while since the body’s felt this good. I’ve had a good, hard pre-season and hopefully the results pay off.”
Hewitt now faces Japanese second seed Kei Nishikori in a mouth-watering semifinal on Saturday.
Chardy ends Groth’s run
Eighth-seeded Frenchman Jeremy Chardy has put an end to Australian Wildcard Sam Groth’s spirited run at the Brisbane International in the quarterfinals.
Unlike others before him this week, Chardy was not only able to withstand the pounding Groth serve, he was also able to break it – twice in fact – on his way to a 7-5 6-4 victory.
Chardy now moves through to the semifinals where he will face either top seed Roger Federer or Australia’s Marinko Matosevic, who play tonight at Pat Rafter Arena.