Australian Lleyton Hewitt boosted his confidence for next week’s US Open with a crushing 6-3, 6-1 win over Peru’s Luis Horna in New York on Sunday to win the $380 000 ATP event.
Hewitt claimed his second trophy in as many weeks after winning in Washington seven days ago.
The win also gives the Australian an extra payday in the new US Open series for the top three finishers on a summer circuit, which began in July in Los Angeles.
Hewitt breezed through the first set in 29 minutes. Horna double-faulted four times early in the contest and the Australian seized on the opportunities when the Peruvian made more than 20 errors.
The second-seeded Australian had few problems in the second set, racing to a 3-0 lead and serving an ace to close out the set and tie up the victory under a hot sun.
”I knew it would be a tough match today,” said Hewitt, now 53-13 this season with four trophies. ”Luis had to come through some top players to get here, you have to give him a lot of respect. I tried to play my game, I’m happy to take home the title.”
Horna reached his first career final at ATP level by defeating Paradorn Srichaphan, of Thailand, in a marathon semifinal. He came back from a set and a break down to advance to the final.
Hewitt stretched his current streak to 10 consecutive victories and has now won 24 titles.
The Australian is looking forward to the US Open, which begins on Monday.
”I’ll try to keep my game together for next week We’ll see what happens. It’s nice to put together two good weeks in a row,” he said. — Sapa-AFP