Bernard Tomic and Lleyton Hewitt gave local tennis fans some excitement before the Australian Open with victories in warm-up tournaments yesterday.
Tomic captured his first ATP Tour title when he beat South Africa's Kevin Anderson 6-3 6-7 6-3 in the Sydney International and Hewitt turned back the clock to thump Juan Martin del Potro 6-1 6-4 and win the Kooyong Classic.
The 31-year-old Hewitt, who has been troubled with foot, toe, hip and hand injuries in recent years, also beat Canada's Milos Raonic and Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic at the eight-man invitational tournament.
The 2001 U.S. Open and 2002 Wimbledon champion now looms as a dark horse at the Australian Open, where he has been drawn against Serbian world number nine Janko Tipsarevic.
