Hewitt defeats Petzschner to reach 500 career wins; more Munich

MUNICH (AP) -- Lleyton Hewitt became only the third active player on the ATP tour to reach 500 victories Tuesday when he saved two match points before beating Philipp Petzschner 6-2, 6-7 (2), 7-6 (8) in the opening round of the BMW Open.

The win did not come easy for the former No. 1 from Australia, who is seeking to climb back into the top 10 after dropping to No. 55 following hip surgery.

Hewitt, a wild-card entry, needed 2 hours, 34 minutes to overcome his German rival on a cool, damp day. Hewitt wasted two match points in the second set, then saved two in the decisive tiebreaker before converting his seventh match point.

Hewitt now has a 500-170 career record, which includes two major titles. The only two other active players with more than 500 wins are Roger Federer with 638 and Carlos Moya with 573.

Earlier, Marin Cilic of Croatia eased into the second round by beating German qualifier Dieter Kindelmann 6-3, 6-2.

Cilic is the highest seed in the clay-court tournament at No. 2 after the late withdrawal of defending champion Fernando Gonzalez, who was the top seed. Gonzalez pulled out due to an ankle injury.

The 20-year-old Dutch qualifier Thiemo de Bakker beat 33-year-old German veteran and fifth-seeded Rainer Schuettler 6-3, 6-3. It was de Bakker's first win in a main draw match this year.

No. 4 Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic advanced by defeating German qualifier Sascha Kloer 7-6 (0), 6-4. Also in the first round, seventh-seeded Paul-Henri Mathieu of France defeated the "lucky loser" from qualifying, Lamine Ouahab of Algeria, 6-3, 6-2. Eighth-seeded Igor Kunitsyn of Russia lost 7-5, 5-7, 6-3 to Potito Starace of Italy.

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