Tennis: Champion Rafael Nadal had to dig deep into his reserves to tame a tenacious Lleyton Hewitt 6-2 5-7 6-4 6-2 in the fourth round of the French Open today.
Nadal was aiming to extend his record claycourt winning streak to 57 but, having lost all three of their previous clashes, the Spaniard knew he was in for a bumpy ride.
The second seed grabbed the first set when a sliding Hewitt slapped a backhand into the net.
Hewitt was not about to be outdone and drew level after breaking his opponent to love to take the second set 7-5 when Nadal misfired a forehand.
The Australian continued to trouble Nadal over the next two sets by retrieving the ball from seemingly impossible angles but despite his best efforts Nadal sealed victory in three hours 17 minutes when Hewitt sailed a backhand over the baseline.
Nadal will next play either French hope Gael Monfils or Serbian Novak Djokovic for a place in the last four.