ATP New York: Lleyton Hewitt and Alexei Popyrin beaten in team debut
Australian tennis legend Lleyton Hewitt and rising star Alexei Popyrin have suffered an early exit at the New York Open.
Hewitt and Popyrin, who were handed a doubles wildcard by the tournament organizers, were beaten in their opening match at the tournament.
Fourth-seeded Robert Lindstedt and Tim Puetz proved to be too much for the Australian wildcards as they won 6-4 6-4 to reach the quarter-final.
Hewitt, 37, and 19-year-old Popyrin saved a break point in the opening game of the match, before they failed to convert any of their two break point chances in the following game.
Sweden's Lindstedt and German Puetz got the first break of the match in the seventh game to take a 4-3 lead.
Lindstedt, 41, and 31-year-old Puetz then comfortably held on to their serve to clinch the opener.
One break of serve in the second set was enough for Lindstedt and Puetz to clinch a straight-set win.
The fourth-seeded duo broke Hewitt and Popyrin in the fifth game to take a 3-2 second-set lead and then routinely held on to their serve.
The Australians didn't have a single break point chance during the second set.
Lindstedt and Puetz won 83 percent of their first serve points, converted 2-of-4 of their break point chances and saved 2-of-2 of Hewitt and Popyrin's break point opportunities in an hour of play.
Hewitt and Popyrin debuted as a pair in New York.
Hewitt was originally scheduled to play doubles in New York with Alex de Minaur but the rising Australian was forced to withdraw from the tournament.
Full result:
[4] Robert Lindstedt (SWE) & [4] Tim Puetz (GER) d. [WC] Lleyton Hewitt (AUS) & [WC] Alexei Popyrin (AUS) 6-4 6-4
from Tennis World USA http://bit.ly/2BBiHUj
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