Hewitt recovers to set up Nadal clash

Lleyton Hewitt recovered from a terrible start to beat Slovakia's Karol Kucera 1-6 6-1 6-4 6-1 in the second round of the Australian…

Lleyton Hewitt recovered from a terrible start to beat Slovakia's Karol Kucera 1-6 6-1 6-4 6-1 in the second round of the Australian Open today.

The 15th-seeded Australian looked to be in early trouble after Kucera ran away with the opening set before rediscovering his rhythm to secure the win.

"I got off to a low start but I didn't feel like I played that badly. Karol played extremely well," said Hewitt, who next plays 17-year-old Rafael Nadal for a place in the fourth round.

"I got off to a rough start against Karol in Sydney last week and I was able to turn that around so I knew I just had to keep plugging away.

READ MORE

The former world number one is unbeaten this year through 10 consecutive matches.

He was unhappy with some of the line-calls, saying he had been treated unfairly by the officials.

"Even the lines people helped him, I think it was a little bit on purpose," Kucera said. "(But) I don't think I was close (to winning) today.

Looking forward to his match with Nadal, who beat Thierry Ascione 6-4 3-6 7-5 6-1, Hewitt said he was prepared to  fight all the way.

"I don't know much about him but from what I've heard he's a hell of a prospect coming up," Hewitt said.  "It's going to be a tough match and I'm going to have to go up to another level.