Nadal v Hewitt

Match Date: 12th August 2008

Beijing Olympics 2nd Round

Rafael Nadal enters the second round after a not so easy win over Potito Starace, dropping a set to Starace, the first the Italian has won in five meetings with Nadal.

Enter Lleyton Hewitt for the second round and Nadal will have to be at the top of his game here, Hewitt breezed through the first round against Jonas Bjorkman, he is former number one who relishes big matches, and known for his never give up attitude. Hewitt has the better record on hard courts with a 3-0 lead although the last of those wins was in 2005.

One worry is that Hewitt has been injured since Wimbledon with hip problems and has only been back practising on a hard surface recently. Nadal tends to get better and better as a tournament progresses so Hewitt has the perfect chance to give Nadal an early exit here, but to be in with a chance he will have to be 100% fit.

Head to Head Record

Year	Tournament	Round	Surface	Winner	Score
2004	Australian Open	32	Hard	L.HEWITT	6-7(2) 6-7(5) 2-6
2004	Canada	64	Hard	L.HEWITT	6-1 4-6 2-6
2005	Australian Open	16	Hard	L.HEWITT	5-7 6-3 6-1 6-7(3) 2-6
2006	French Open	16	Clay	R.NADAL	6-2 5-7 6-4 6-2
2006	Queen's	QF	Grass	L.HEWITT	6-3 3-6 RET
2007	Hamburg	SF	Clay	R.NADAL	2-6 6-3 7-5
2007	French Open	16	Clay	R.NADAL	6-3 6-1 7-6(5)
2008	Olympic Tennis Event - Beijing	32	Hard	R.NADAL	6-1 6-2
Rafael NADAL (ESP) is tied with Lleyton HEWITT (AUS) : 4 to 4

Review

Nadal continued his excellent recent form by brushing aside Lleyton Hewitt 6-1 6-2.