Second seed Lleyton Hewitt strolled into the second round of the Mumbai Open tennis tournament even as India's challenge in the singles draw ended at the Cricket Club of India on Thursday morning.
Hewitt, one of the title favourites here, overcame tenacious Taipei qualifier Ti Chen 6-3, 6-3 to set up a contest against Boris Pashanski of Serbia, which will be played later in the day.
Pashanksi was a 1-6, 6-3, 6-3 winner over Argentine Sergio Roitman.
Purav Raja, who entered the main draw as a lucky loser and was the lone Indian remaining in the main draw, was ousted 6-4, 6-1 by Spain's Ivan Navarro Pastor in the first round in a match that went on to two days due to rain interruption on Wednesday night.
Chen, as the score would suggest, was not bad. Every once in a while he made the stunning return, won a close rally, whizzed past a shot by Hewitt to make his presence felt. But the Australian, a former world number one and Grand Slam champion, was relentless from back of the court.
Hewitt arrived in Mumbai on Tuesday night and was kept waiting for some action as persistent drizzle on Wednesday delayed his match to the next morning. His participation was in doubt after he pulled out of the crucial reverse singles against Serbia in the Davis Cup on Sunday due to a viral infection.
Having recovered sufficiently, though not playing his best, Hewitt reinforced his claim as title contender in Mumbai.
He was two break-points down in the sixth game of the first set, but once he overcame that little hiccup he pocketed six straight games to break Chen's will.
