It was a good day for Australia at the Tennis Masters Series-Cincinnati on Tuesday when fifth-seeded Lleyton Hewitt and eighth-seeded Patrick Rafter won their first round matches. Rafter ignored the sweltering heat to post a 7-5 6-3 win over Spaniard Albert Portas.
Under the lights, Hewitt managed to break away from Magnus Norman of Sweden at the end of the first set to earn a 6-4 6-1 victory and move into the second round.
Despite having played six matches last week in Montreal, Rafter looked ready for action on Tuesday against Portas, seemingly unconcerned with the hot, humid day. Portas held his own for most of the first set in this first meeting against Rafter, only surrendering his serve in the final game.
Rafter, whose serve was never broken by Portas, won three games in a row from 2-2 in the second set to secure a commanding lead in the 78-minute match.
After a slow start against the 23rd-ranked Norman, Hewitt settled into the task of winning their 79-minute encounter and picking up the pace of his game. After Norman led 4-3 in the first set, Hewitt won the final three games to take the lead.
After holding serve in the first game of the second set, Norman never won another game in the match, allowing Hewitt to win 25 of the 33 points played in the last six games.
Filed by Sinéad Kissane
