Lleyton Hewitt has bowed out of the Brisbane International tennis tournament after falling in straight sets to Uzbekistan’s Denis Istomin in the second round on Thursday.
World No.83 Hewitt missed out on a potential quarter-final showdown with reigning US Open champion Andy Murray by going down 7-5 7-5.
The 31-year-old Hewitt had the crowd on their feet when he saved three consecutive break points at the beginning of the second set before breaking Istomin’s serve to lead 3-2.
But world No.43 Istomin broke back straight away before clinching the result with 11 aces.
The 26-year-old will play top seed Murray or Australian qualifier John Millman in the quarter-finals.
Meanwhile, Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria upset second seed Milos Raonic of Canada 6-3 6-4 in their second-round clash.