Lleyton Hewitt stretches to return one against Attila Savolt during their Hopman Cup match in Perth on Sunday. Hewitt won 6-2, 6-2

Perth: Australia drew first blood in the Hopman Cup mixed teams tennis competition, sweeping past Hungary 3-0 in the opening group B tie at the Burswood Dome on Sunday.

Former world No. 1 Lleyton Hewitt thrashed 27-year-old Attila Savolt 6-2, 6-2 in just 53 minutes after his partner Alicia Molik had downed Petra Mandula 4-6, 7-6 (7/5), 6-2.

The Australians, playing their third successive Hopman Cup as a team, then went on to a whitewash, taking the dead mixed doubles rubber 7-6 (7/5), 6-1.

Hewitt, who’s ranking last year dropped to 17 after he reduced his tournament schedule to focus on Grand Slam and Davis Cup commitments, said he was delighted with his form in the lead-up to the Australian Open which starts in Melbourne on January 19.

“I felt like I was pretty aggressive out there today. Even though I hit a couple of unforced errors I’m still pushing and dictating points a lot more,” Hewitt said.

“It was a little bit strange at the start, he was just coming out slapping balls around the place until I got my rhythm. Then I felt like I really played well. This is a huge springboard, the next two weeks for me and hopefully Alicia and I can go all the way this year.”

Hewitt has promised to introduce even more aggression into his game this year as he builds towards his holy grail of the Australian Open crown.

The former world No. 1 who slipped to 17 in the rankings after scaling down his tournament schedule, said he had also been concentrating on building up physically. “You know, probably trying to be a little more aggressive I think,” Hewitt said when asked what he had been focusing on most over the past few months.

“That’s probably the last five or six months, not just the last couple. But I was trying definitely to do that, I think.

“You’ve got to keep doing it in practice and sometimes it doesn’t all pay off,” the 22-year-old said. But Hewitt said the approach had paid dividends for him in recent Davis Cup matches for Australia, including a marathon comeback from two sets down in both the semi-final and final of the event.

Hewitt said he had always been fit, but had been working hard with coach Roger Rasheed to try and improve his stamina even further, adding four kilograms to his previously 68kg frame in recent months.

Hungary, who had earlier earned a place in the main draw of the $750,000 event beating Canada 2-1 in a play-off tie on Saturday, got off to a strong start in the tie.

Mandula appeared to have her rival on the ropes in the first match, taking the opening set 6-4 and leading the second set tiebreak 5-2 before losing five straight points, allowing the Australian to take the set 7-6.

Molik then took full control, winning 16 of the last 18 points against the 27-year-old from Budapest to clinch the match. “I think the crowd really pulled me through the second set,” Molik said.

“It’s been a while since I played a set let alone three sets so it was pretty scratchy out there but a win’s a win.”

Hewitt and Molik both cited third seeds Belgium, their next opponents, as the main danger in group B of the tournament which also includes the Slovak Republic.

Australia, the second seeds, and Belgium, clash on Wednesday when Hewitt will play against his new fiancee Kim Clijsters, the current world No. 2.

When asked if Hewitt had given her any advice on how to handle Clijsters, Molik had barely begun to reply when Hewitt interjected joking: “I don’t know how too — it beats me”. (AFP)