Aussies Hewitt, Saville advance at Newport

Fresh on the back of their Wimbledon campaigns, Australians Lleyton Hewitt and Luke Saville have booked second-round matches at the ATP event in Newport.

Australian tennis player Lleyton Hewitt

Lleyton Hewitt (pic) and Luke Saville have advanced to the second round of the ATP event in Newport. (AAP)

Australians Lleyton Hewitt and Luke Saville have advanced to the second round of the ATP grasscourt tournament in Newport, Rhode Island.

Hewitt, who's featured in the event's past two finals but lost, came from a set down to beat American Ryan Harrison 1-6 7-5 6-4 in just over two hours.

The 33-year-old veteran admitted he struggled to adapt to the conditions following his early exit from Wimbledon a fortnight ago.

"It's totally different courts and conditions to playing in London - that was the hardest thing," Hewitt said.

"In the end, I just tried to win ugly more than anything. Just get balls back in play.

"With the wind out here on these courts, they're not bouncing as high as in England. It's a lot tougher out there.

"I wouldn't say it was the best-looking match, but I just found a way to win."

He next faces Croatian qualifier Ante Pavic, a 7-6 6-4 winner over Romanian Marius Copil.

Countryman Saville, a former Wimbledon junior champion from Berri, NSW, only needed 66 minutes to dispose of his first-round opponent Peter Polansky 6-4 6-2.

It follows his impressive debut at Wimbledon last month, when he managed to score an opening-round win over Austrian world No.57 Dominic Thiem.

Things, however, are only going to get tougher for the 20-year-old qualifier, who will next play defending champion Nicholas Mahut.

Mahut beat Hewitt in last year's final and was also the 2007 runner-up.

Meanwhile top seed and two-time champion John Isner hammered 19 aces to win his opening match against qualifier Wayne Odesnik 6-3 7-6 (8-6).

"I'm happy I got to win," he said.

"It got a little dicey there in the end, where I could have closed it out a little earlier."

Isner won consecutive Newport titles in 2011 and 2012, but had his 13-match tournament win streak snapped in the semi-finals by Hewitt last year.

The American progresses to face another qualifier in compatriot Austin Krajicek, who defeated Tim Smyczek in straight sets.

American seventh-seed Jack Sock, Frenchman Adrian Mannarino and Ukrainian Sergiy Stakhovsky also won their first-round matches.


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