World number one Lleyton Hewitt overcame a severe bout of fever to guide Australia to a dramatic Hopman Cup victory over Argentina in Perth, Australia, today. There are fears Hewitt may have chickenpox just two weeks before he is due to start the Australian Open as top seed and is to have medical tests later on Wednesday to determine the cause of the fever.
Hewitt drove himself to victory over Mariano Zabaleta 6-3 6-4 in the second singles contest and level the score in the Group B match at 1-1. He then teamed up with Alicia Molik, who earlier slumped 7-6 3-6 6-4 to Paola Suarez, to win the decisive mixed doubles 5-7 6-3 7-6 (10-7) in a super-tiebreak climax.
He left the Western Australian complex immediately after the match for "precautionary tests", according to tournament director Paul McNamee. Australia now need simply to win by any score in Thursday's showdown with Spain to move into Saturday's final. Australia won their opening match 3-0 against Switzerland earlier in the week.
Filed by Shane Murray
