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Lleyton Hewitt’s progress back after hip surgery has derailed slightly with his second round defeat in Barcelona today against Eduardo Schwank 7-6, 6-4 after battling his way through the first round. Hewitt’s service games were dubious at best, with Lleyton’s serve being inconsistent. “I have done all of the right things in rehab, not trying to cut corners, and did everything the physio told me, and I think for that reason I’ve been able to come back a little bit sooner that I expected. I had to be patient. I worked my back up the rankings after falling out of the top 100 after the first injury, and now I have to do it again. In a way it’s easier to come back on clay than on hard courts when you’re coming back from an injury, but on the other hand the sliding is tough, and you need to build and strengthen certain muscles.”
Unfortunately for Barcelona another Spaniard bit the dust with Tommy Robredo retiring with back pain during his match against Simone Bolelli. He did receive treatment on court but was unable to move comfortably and retired to prevent serious injury. Feliciano Lopez got an easy second round pass after Dolgopolov Jr retired from their first round match. His potential third round opponent is top seed Robin Soderling, however, he will have to get past Istomin first. Robin Soderling squeezed past Juan Ignacio Chela 7-5, 7-5 for a place in the third round.
Elsewhere in Europe photos of Roger Federer practicing his clay court slides have been released. Federer skipped Monte Carlo to spend time resting and rebuilding after a chest infection a few weeks ago but also to enjoy his first wedding anniversary with wife Mirka and their twin daughters.
Robredo, Hewitt and Federer are all expected at Rome next week.
David Nalbandian is one of the most motivated Davis Cup players in the history of tennis. He has played through painful injuries including a hernia to give Argentina hope such is his sense of national pride and so it was no surprise that the famous Argentine was pumped up for his doubles rubber with Eduardo Schwank against the Spaniards most famous pretty boys Feliciano Lopez and Fernando Verdasco.
