Hewitt Nears 600 Career Wins at Indian Wells
Men’s singles began action in Indian Wells, Calif., as round one action began at the 2014 BNP Parias Open. In opening round action on Thursday, it was Lleyton Hewitt, a former world number one, who clinched his 599th career win with a 7-6(2), 3-6, 6-3 victory over Matt Ebden. He seeks his 600th career victory in round two as he faces South Africa’s Kevin Anderson.
Americans Tim Smyczek and Jack Sock clashed in the opening round as well, with Smyczek coming through with the 6-4, 1-6 6-4 victory in just over two hours. Up next for Smyczek is the number 28 seed, Alexandr Dolgopolov in the second round.
In another all-American first-round match, 35-year-old Michael Russell defeated Donald Young 4-6, 6-1, 6-2 to reach the second round for a fifth time at the BNP Paribas Open. Louisiana native Ryan Harrison defeated Andrey Golubev 6-4, 7-5, to set up a second round meeting with Fabio Fognini, and Sam Querrey, a 6-3, 6-3 winner over fellow American Alex Kuznetsov, will advance to round two to face Andreas Seppi.
Radek Stepanek moved on to face Rafael Nadal in the second round, after a 6-1, 3-6, 6-1 win over Denis Istomin.
