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Hewitt leads Aussie charge at Wimbledon

LONDON - Lleyton Hewitt led the charge of the Australian players at Wimbledon, with big things expected of him and Sam Stosur this year.

Hewitt, the 2002 Wimbledon men’s champion, came back from a set down to defeat Argentina’s Maximo Gonzalez 5-7, 6-0, 6-2, 6-2 on Monday at the All England Club.

The Australian number one, fresh from beating Roger Federer in the Halle final, came through the match on the sunken Court 2 against the world number 159, who had never won on grass.

He was backed by an army of Aussie fans, a regular sight courtside wherever Australians are playing at Wimbledon.

Seeded 15^th this year, having been bumped up from his world ranking which currently stands at 26, Hewitt will face Evgeny Korolev of Kazakhstan next after his four-set victory against Argentinian Eduardo Schwank.

French Open finalist Stosur gets her campaign underway Tuesday against Estonian qualifier Kaia Kanepi.

Stosur’s best performance here came when she reached the third round last year, but much more is expected of her this time around.

“Wimbledon is a tough event for me and I’ve never had really great results in the past,” Stosur has said. “But I was also not the player I am now in the past. Anything is possible.

Of the other three Australians in the men’s draw, Peter Luczak had the best result Monday, downing Spain’s 30^th seed Tommy Robredo 2-6, 7-6 (7-3), 6-2, 7-5.

It was some achievement for the Warsaw-born world number 83, who was making his first appearance at Wimbledon. Robredo had won their previous two encounters, which were both on clay.

However, the other two Aussies were defeated.

Qualifier Bernard Tomic, the world number 246, was making his Wimbledon debut as the youngest man in the draw at 17 years and eight months old. He was twice a boys’ semi-finalist at the All England Club.

Nonetheless, he was outperformed by the experienced American Mardy Fish, the Queen’s finalist, who won 6-3, 7-6 (10/8), 6-2.

Carsten Ball, the Australian number three, was also beaten in four sets, losing to Ricardas Berankis of Lithuania.

Berankis beat Ball on his Wimbledon debut 6-2, 6-0, 3-6, 7-6 (7/5).

In the women’s draw, Slovak-born Australian number three Jarmila Groth beat the Czech Republic’s Renata Voracova.

Reaching the second round equals her best-ever Wimbledon perfomances of 2007 and 2009.

She now faces the 33^rd-seeded American Melanie Oudin in the second round.

Australian number four Alicia Molik beat Slovakia’s Zuzana Kucova 6-2, 7-5 and goes through to face Hungarian qualifier Greta Arn, who downed Spanish 22^nd seed Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez.

The former world number eight’s best-ever Wimbledon performances came in 2003 and 2004, when she reached the third round.

On Tuesday, in the women’s draw, while Stosur opens her campaign, Anastasia Rodionova faces British number three Anne Keothavong before a home crowd on show court 12, while Casey Dellacqua takes on Serbia’s Bojana Jovanowski.