Federer falters as hurricane Hewitt charges to victory

Australia's Lleyton Hewitt enjoying his last win over Federer in the Davis Cup Keystone

Roger Federer has tumbled out of the prestigious Canadian tennis championships, losing 6-3, 3-6, 2-6 in the first round to the seventh seeded Australian, Lleyton Hewitt.

Federer had a tough challenge on his hands in the teenage tussle with Adelaide’s Hewitt. The 19-year-old Australian is just six months older than Federer but has already risen to tenth place in the world rankings.

Hewitt has four tournament wins to his name already this season and has a one-sided, if brief, history against Federer. The Basel player lost both his previous encounters against Hewitt – most recently during Switzerland’s Davis Cup defeat by Australia in February.

The other Swiss star, Marc Rosset has no history to draw on against his first round opponent, the Melbourne-based Andrew Ilie. But the Swiss player should start as favourite on the hard-court surfaces of Toronto against an opponent who is considered at his best playing on clay.

The three million dollar event dates back to 1881, making it the sport’s third oldest competition. Only Wimbledon and the US Open have longer histories.

The US Open will be firmly in Martina Hingis’s mind this week, as the women’s world number one begins her preparations for the final Grand Slam event of the year. The Swiss player is in San Diego, California for a highly competitive Accura classic, with eight of the world’s top ten players due to compete.

Hingis stirred up some controversy in Switzerland when she announced that she would not be representing the country at the Olympic games because of her heavy schedule in the United States. But Hingis could face an early reminder of her last Olympic appearance when she steps onto court in California.

After receiving a bye into the second round, the Swiss player is due to meet the winner of the first round encounter between Belgium’s Dominique van Roost and Japan’s Ai Sugiyama. Hingis will no doubt recall that it was Sugiyama who ended her 1996 Olympic bid in only the second round.

swissinfo with agencies