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A meeting of tennis' old guard ended prematurely Thursday night in Melbourne when Andy Roddick was forced to retire from his match against Lleyton Hewitt with a hamstring injury.
Roddick took a tumble to the court early in the match and appeared hobbled afterward. He was down two sets to one when he pulled out, later citing an aggravation of a hamstring injury he first suffered in December. The American said reaching for shots was difficult with the ailment. He made the decision to retire from the match when he realized that "pulling a rabbit out of a hat" and winning would be fruitless, since he wouldn't be healthy enough to play his third-round match on Saturday.
[Related: John Isner celebrates Aussie Open win Cam Newton style]
Hewitt, the longtime Aussie favorite, was leading 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 when Roddick walked over, shook his hand and said, "Lleyton, that's it."
During his post-match press conference, Roddick was dejected, but reflective. "I can't really complain," he said. "I had 10 years pretty much of a clean slate. That's a lot more than most people get."
He and Hewitt first met in a Grand Slam 11 years ago. They were playing their eighth match in a major. The second-rounder was the first time they had played before a quarterfinal since that inaugural meeting at Roland Garros in 2001.
Roddick had been scheduled to play mixed doubles in Melbourne with Serena Williams. It appears unlikely that he'll be able to enter that competition, which the two had been using as a tuneup for a possible gold medal run at the Olympics. When Serena saw Roddick fall, she tweeted, "Oh no my dubs partner!!!!! :("
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