Lleyton Hewitt was satisfied with his heroic effort against top seed Novak Djokovic in the Australian Open fourth round.
Hewitt was blown apart for two and half sets by some awe-inspiring tennis from the defending champion but somehow, the 30 year old dug deep and had Djokovic seriously worried before he pulled through 6-1, 6-3, 4-6, 6-3.
"It was obviously satisfying because, yeah, he was playing exceptional tennis," Hewitt told the press. "I was still able to find a way to get, you know, back in the match in some regards, at least put some pressure on him. His moving, his ball striking, his serving was fantastic for two-and-a-half sets. Considering where I was a few months ago, three or four months ago, yeah, it's a pretty good effort."
"The start of the fourth set I had a small opportunity, but he came up with a big first serve. I got actually into the point, but I couldn't get on top of that point. He sort of had me running, so I was defending for that point. He hit the ball too deep for me to get the break there, so..."
"I played him Hopman Cup last year and he played sensational in that match as well. I said at the time it's going to take a helluva performance for someone to beat him at the Australian Open a couple weeks after that. I was pretty spot on, because no one could really go with him here last year. Obviously the year he had was exceptional. Right at the moment, the way he started this year, he's hitting the ball awfully well so far."
