Former bright young thing Lleyton Hewiit defeats current BYT Thanasi Kokkinakis in Brisbane. Source: PATRICK HAMILTON / AFP
IT was back to the future for Lleyton Hewitt as the elder statesman defeated bright young thing Thanasi Kokkinakis on Tuesday night to advance to the Brisbane International second round.
The 17-year-old Kokkinakis was the orange boy for Hewitt's Davis Cup team at Pat Rafter Arena when they defeated South Korea in 2012. In his latest appearance on the same court, he showed great promise before Hewitt prevailed 6-3, 7-5.
Kokkinakis was just a year old when fellow South Australian Hewitt announced his arrival on the world scene with victory in Adelaide aged 16 in 1998.
Kokkinakis, even with hat turned around backwards, brings to mind a young Hewitt in many ways. Source: AFP
But the world No.628, making his first appearance in the main draw of an ATP World Tour event, faced Hewitt with poise, regularly serving around the 200km/h mark and using his challenges wisely, twice to good effect in the first set.
Kokkinakis saved a handful of break points in the seventh game of the match, prompting him to borrow the "C'mon!" slogan from his opponent's shirt and shorts.
But Hewitt, who turns 33 in February, finally converted for 4-3 and made light work of the next game.
Hewitt prepares to slice a backhand toward a player seemingly destined to follow in his footsteps. Source: AFP
Kokkinakis was not prepared to go down without a fight, producing consecutive serves of 199km/h and 201km/h, but Hewitt stepped up a gear and closed out the set.
Kokkinakis made early inroads in the second set, breaking Hewitt for a 3-1 buffer.
But his forehand deserted him in a crucial tenth game, when he twice punched the ball into the net and sent another shot wide to hand Hewitt the break back.
It was a tough lesson as former world No.1 Hewitt, now ranked 60th, took full advantage to close out the match after one hour and 40 minutes.
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