Hewitt Hangs On; Reid Stuns Gambill

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Lleyton Hewitt had to draw upon all of his experience to keep his hopes of a record fourth consecutive Stella Artois title alive after overcoming a close three-set battle with Raemon Sluiter.

The top seed eventually prevailed 7-6(6), 3-6, 7-6(3) after 2 hours, 9 minutes, having saved a set point in the first set tie-break as Sluiter's backhand volley drifted wide.

"I knew it was going to be a tough match as soon as I saw the draw," said Hewitt. "I've only played against him once in Stockholm and I played pretty average that day but he played very well. I saw him play against Tim [Henman] here in the semifinals last year and he probably should have won that match. So I knew it was going to be hard and that's exactly how it was."

Player of the Year

Hewitt, who received his 2002 ATP Player of the Year trophy after the match from tournament director Ian Wight and ATP Executive Vice President of Europe Zeljko Franulovic, showed exactly why he finished a second consecutive season as the No. 1 in the ATP Champions Race by winning the crucial points when it mattered.

Hewitt, the three-time defending champion at The Queen's Club, found himself 6-5 in the first set tie-break before three errors by the Dutchman cost him dearly. But Sluiter, a finalist earlier this year in Rotterdam, hit back in the second set to take it 6-3 and held two break points on Hewitt's serve for a 4-2 lead.

However, the 22-year-old Australian produced the goods when it mattered to get himself out of trouble, and, after two exquisite lobs in the next game, got what seemed to be the important break to lead 5-3.

But any thoughts that Sluiter would sit back and accept his fate quickly evaporated as Hewitt served for the match only to see the Dutchman attack his serve and break back to level matters at 5-5.

Commanding

As the deciding set headed into the tie-break, it was Hewitt who opened up a commanding 6-0 lead, and although Sluiter saved three match points, a backhand volley into the net by Sluiter booked Hewitt's place against Dick Norman.

"I thought he played really well today," added Hewitt. "I think there's a lot of people he would have chewed up today on grass."

It was also a good day for Hewitt's fellow countryman Todd Reid, who followed up his first ever victory on the ATP circuit against Nicolas Mahut on Monday with a second round with over No. 10 seed Jan-Michael Gambill.

Junior Champion

Reid, last year's junior Wimbledon champion who came through the qualifying competition at Queen's, advanced to the third round with a 6-1, 7-5 victory over the American. "I'm very pleased at the moment," said Reid. "To come here and win my first match against a player ranked in the Top 200, and now to beat a player like Jan-Michael Gambill who is a Top 50 player just feels great.

"My game plan was just to be aggressive and try and attack as much as possible. It worked out well today."

Reid, who will now meet sixth seed Sebastien Grosjean, added: "I've watched him play quite a bit but I'm not sure how he plays on grass, so I will just try to play my game and see how it goes."

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