US Open Day 3: Hewitt shows signs of good form against Chela

I had just been watching Richard Gasquet's performance against Rafael Nadal earlier, and I was shaking my head with the careless, free-hitting nature of it. I completely understand that Gasquet was rusty, that was clearly evident there but it was like he was trying to create damage with one shot rather than approaching tennis as a combination of shots. I could see what he was trying to do, but at the same time it seemed like a cheap way of playing, and a cheap way of giving away points when it all goes wrong.

So when I switched over to Lleyton Hewitt's match against Juan Ignacio Chela, it had an immediate appeal to it, two guys playing grinding tennis as if every point was a matter of life and death.

A lot of tennis revolves around the serve these days, but somehow Hewitt and Chela couldn't win any cheap points which was strange for Hewitt given he usually has a good sliding serve and whenever they engaged in a rally, it was almost inevitably extended. You have to admire the concentration, intensity and ball-striking that's required to consistently play at a level like that. It was quite amazing to see. It was a bit like watching good claycourt tennis, except that Hewitt consistently took the ball on the rise, not that doing that on clay is all that uncommon these days.

The first thing you'll notice is how Chela seems to wait for every ball to drop somewhat before hitting it. To me, his footwork looks good enough to the point where you'd think he'd be able to catch it on the rise, but he doesn't. Instead he takes the patient and reliable mindset, maybe so he can afford the additional time to step up the pace and swing harder if he wants to.

It was an interesting dynamic to start with, because it was like Hewitt had the upper hand but Chela kept hanging on, and wouldn't let go. Hewitt had more options and he was looking to do more with his shots. In fact, he played with as much variety as I'd ever seen from him, consistently looking to make use of his underrated net game at every opportunity. Playing with that mindset basically means that even when he's not coming into the net, he's hitting every shot with intent, always on the look out for ways he can keep Chela off-balance. It's a good way for Hewitt to maintain an aggressive mindset overall. I liked how confidently he was striking his forehand, getting good racquet head speed on it and using it as a consistent weapon to rush Chela with.

Chela did remarkably well to hang in the rallies as well as he did, and that's what made it a high quality affair. I wasn't expecting much in this match because I couldn't recall Chela even playing any ATP matches of late, and the commentators mentioned that Chela has really only been involved in a couple of challengers lately, given that he has only recently returned from injury.

There is no way that I would expect a guy returning from a long lay-off to be trading blows shot for shot with Hewitt, with amazing consistency. There were no strange, uncharacteristic errors that I usually associate with rustiness. In fact, it felt like Chela made no unforced errors, or at least just about every error he did make was late in the rally, and mostly forced.

It reminded me a whole lot of what Chela's game is all about, not giving any ground to his opponents and nothing to work with. He generates good pace on his groundstrokes and consistent depth, and rarely gives away any obvious angles to work with or openings. The saying of having no holes in your game couldn't be more accurate with Chela. It's hard to break his game down. It's better to find ways around him, and keep him on the move, which is essentially like taking control and winning the point yourself.

Throughout his career, Chela hasn't really been thought of as a great athlete, because of the way his game can be exposed by players that make him move short and wide. But the reason why he hung in for so long against Hewitt in the first set was purely defensive skills, the ability to stay in rallies that he was not in control of. He had an uncanny knack of being able to turn around points from hopeless situations by somehow floating up a lob that would land close to the baseline almost every single time. That's the kind of skill you usually associate with the higher end players, and that's what made the rallies so epic.

Chela had break points to get back on even terms at 4-3 in the first set, putting all of his energy to get back on serve but couldn't convert. That seemed to knock the belief out of him, and he started to tire physically as well, a result of his recent lack of match play. Hewitt started to reach his peak level from the second set onwards, looking to win points in fewer shots by stepping up and flattening more shots. Helped by Chela's declining movement, Hewitt used his early ball striking to consistently rush Chela and he was confident enough to change directions at will as well.

It was an impressive all-round game and I would have liked to have seen how this brand of tennis that Hewitt brought would match up against some of the top players of today. But unfortunately Hewitt comes up against Federer next, and as well as Hewitt played, Federer is at a completely different level when it comes to playing a fast-paced game and rushing opponents.