Lleyton Hewitt made history while Bernard Tomic was humbled in a record loss as the two Australians figured in first-round play at the Miami Master on Thursday. The 33-year-old Hewitt, a teenaged number one in his glory days, notched up his 600th career win and said afterwards he had been unaware of his personal milestone after beating Robin Haase 2-6, 6-3, 6-3.
By contrast, 74th-ranked Tomic became the biggest loser since ATP records began in 1991, going down in his first match since January hip surgery 6-0, 6-1 to Finn Jarkko Nieminen. The debacle lasted 28 minutes, 20 seconds, believed to be the ATP's shortest match by a minute. Tomic was playing for the first time since retiring in the Australian Open first round after one set against Rafael Nadal in mid-January.
Tomic vowed to plough on in his quest to return to tennis: "This was the first match back after the operation, it is all part of the rehabilitation process. I'm not disappointed, I just have to keep working to improve my game."
Hewitt received a cake to celebrate his victory but said he barely noticed his big day until being reminded. The 2002 Wimbledon and 2001 US Open winner, now ranked 44th, fought on after Haase saved a match point.
"To tell the truth. I totally forgot," Hewitt said of his record win, coming nearly five years after his 500th. "Today was just like another match and an opportunity to go out there and play well. It's a great milestone. Not many people get to achieve that. A few years ago when I had the last couple lot of surgeries I probably would have doubted I'd get to this stage anyway. I'm still grateful I'm out there and able to compete with the best guys."
