Lleyton Hewitt grinds out 3-set win over No. 9 Mikhail Youzhny at Rome Masters

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Hewitt edges Youzhny at Rome Masters

ROME — Lleyton Hewitt has defeated ninth-seeded Mikhail Youzhny 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 in the opening round at the Rome Masters.

Youzhny committed 59 unforced errors to Hewitt’s 34 Tuesday and dropped to 1-4 against the former top-ranked player from Australia who is coming back from hip surgery in January.

In other matches, Stanislas Wawrinka beat Juergen Melzer 6-1, 6-2; Feliciano Lopez defeated Benjamin Becker 6-4, 6-3; and Italian wild card Simone Bolelli topped German lucky loser Simon Greul 6-4, 6-1.

Later, top-ranked Roger Federer plays his first singles match of the clay season against No. 40 Ernests Gulbis and 2008 Rome champion Novak Djokovic faces Jeremy Chardy of France.