Lleyton Hewitt has admitted that he struggled with the changing conditions inside the Rod Laver Arena after losing to Benjamin Becker in the second round of the Australian Open.
The 33-year-old looked set to deliver the perfect result for the Melbourne crowd when he claimed a two-set advantage, but an impressive fightback from Becker ended the veteran's 19th campaign at the tournament in dramatic fashion.
Despite giving credit to Becker for his performance, Hewitt conceded that his inability to adapt to the conditions as the night session progressed played a vital role.
"He definitely raised his level. The first two sets I felt like I was dictating play the whole time. He obviously tightened up some of his errors start of the third set. He started serving a lot better as well. I couldn't get into as many of his service games to build pressure on him," Hewitt told reporters.
"Conditions were different, too, from the start of the match till the end of the match. Totally different conditions. [Earlier] the ball was flying through the air. Obviously you start in daylight and it goes into night time. By the end the balls were so much heavier out there, which was obviously harder to dictate play, especially from the back of the court for me."
Hewitt has reached the third round of the Australian Open just once in his last five attempts.
Callum Mulvihill
