12 Jan 2013

Hewitt aggressive ahead of Australian Open

4:55 pm on 12 January 2013

The veteran Australian tennis player Lleyton Hewitt has laid down the challenge to his Australian Open first-round opponent Janko Tipsarevic.

The 31-year-old Hewitt is set for his 17th Melbourne Park campaign.

Tipsarevic started the year with a win at the Chennai Open last week but is under an injury cloud after withdrawing from the Kooyong Classic warm-up event with a wrist problem.

Hewitt, who is playing in the final of that tournament today against Argentine Juan Martin del Potro, says he would have preferred an easier first-up opponent but thought Tipsarevic was probably feeling the same way.

Hewitt says he's extremely happy with the way he's hitting the ball and a lot of the pressure is on Tipsarevic as the number nine player in the world.