Lleyton Hewitt and Andy Roddick’s 14th career match-up had all the makings of a late-night classic after a terrific first set, but it wasn’t to be when the American veteran retired while trailing 3-6 6-3 6-4 with a right hamstring injury.
Roddick sustained the injury early in the second set when he lunged awkwardly. He took a medical timeout, but was unable to regain his movement and even though he fought valiantly in the third set by swinging away, he did not want to risk further damage to his leg.
"He's a tough guy to play,” Roddick said. "You can try to ham and egg it against a lot of guys. But he's really intelligent. He knew what was going on. Then you're out there and you're wondering, listen, even if this goes your way, you're not going to play in two
days. So it's a miserable, terrible thing being out there compromised like that. It really sucks."
Four-time Melbourne Park semifinalist Roddick said he suffered a similar injury while training in December and believes he hyper-extended it on Thursday night in Melbourne.
The 2003 US Open champion and two-time Grand Slam champion Hewitt had hoped to produce the same level they displayed in the 2005 semifinals, when Hewitt took out Roddick in a five-set classic. But Roddick’s inability to move well and Hewitt’s confusions to what his opponent could do and would try to do made for an odd affair.
“Mentally, it was one of my better performances tonight throughout my career,” said the 30-year-old Hewitt, who himself has undergone four surgeries in the past five years. “To keep your mind ticking over the whole time isn't easy. It would have been a lot easier if you weren't playing a big server, he could keep holding his serve out there because there was obviously nothing wrong with his shoulder. Yeah, that was hard. That's probably the biggest positive to take out of tonight.”
Roddick suffered shoulder and abdominal injuries during parts of 2011 and dropped out of the year-end top 10 for the first time in nine years.
"It's frustrating," the 29-year-old said. "It's discouraging. You know, your sensible mind says to have a sense of perspective. You still have it pretty good. The competitor in you feels terrible and wants to break stuff. I can't really complain. I had 10 years pretty much of a clean slate. That's a lot more than most people get. The last two years has been pretty tough. It's tough physically. It's as tough mentally, though. It's hard."
Hewitt will face Canadian sensation Milos Raonic in the third round. While he played well at times against Roddick, he isn’t sure how he’ll turn up on Saturday, but he promises to play with his heart on his sleeve.
“I've only seen him a little bit,” Hewitt said. “Early on obviously the Australian Open last year I saw a little bit. He played very well in San Jose and Memphis early on in the year, winning his first title in San Jose. He's a dangerous player. He's similar in some
regards to Andy. I'll be more focusing on my game, obviously trying to take away some of his power.”