Lleyton Hewitt forced his way into the third round following a five set thriller with Taylor Dent on Wimbledon's Centre Court this evening. The Australian overcame a disastrous first set reversal when 20-year-old Dent stormed to a 6-1 victory to claim the next two 7-5 6-3, but the real drama came in an epic fourth which required a tiebreak to separate the pair.
The number five seed finally overcame the qualifier Dent after he had fired the three fastest serves in Wimbledon history. He started his record breaking crusade when he clocked 141mph to eclipse the former fastest serve of 136mph by Pete Sampras back in 1998. Then, in a tie-break of tense and frantic dimensions, Dent came up with successive serves of 142mph and 144mph to make him the second fastest server of all-time. Only Greg Rusedski, with a blast of 149mph in Indian Wells in 1998, has hit a more ferocious delivery.
However, it wasn't enough to defeat Hewitt in a compelling match summoned up all his undeniable courage and scrambling qualities to take the match 1-6 7-5 6-3 6-7 6-3 after an absorbing marathon tussle.
Andre Agassi eased into the third round with a trouble free 6-2 6-4 6-3 victory over England's Jamie Delgado earlier this afternoon. The number two seed, facing his first British player in eleven Wimbledon appearances, faced few problems against the wildcard, taking just 88 minutes to take the match on Centre Court.
The American began his comprehensive destruction with an ace in the first set, and broke Delgado in the sixth and eighth games to establish his supremacy. The 1992 Wimbledon champion took the second when his opponent's serve crumbled in the 10th game, and Agassi wrapped up the match after Delgado saved four match points at 5-2.
Yevgeny Kafelnikov joined Agassi in the third round following his 6-7 6-3 6-3 6-1 victory over British wildcard Arvind Parmar. The seventh-seeded Russian survived the perilous number two court and will now meet either Kenneth Carlsen of Denmark or Guillermo Canas of Argentina. The Briton took the first after storming to a 5-2 lead, but needed a tiebreak to secoure the set.
Kafelnikov remained patient and broke for 4-3 in the second and a further break brought him level. Parmar, the British number four, then fell behind with another 6-3 reversal in the third, and the Russian eventually took the match with a rousing 6-1 finale.
Play was interrupted by rain for the first time this year earlier in the day.
Filed by Shane Murray
