Hewitt hoping to make it third time lucky in Newport

lleytonhewitt

The Australian has been a beaten finalist at the ATP 250 grass-court event for the past two seasons.

After losing in straight sets to John Isner in 2012, Hewitt suffered a 5-7 7-5 6-3 defeat at the hands of Nicolas Mahut last year.

Isner - who also won the event in 2011 - Hewitt and Mahut all return for this year's event, with the latter seeking to claim his first tournament win since he triumphed in Newport 12 months ago.

Mahut will need to significantly improve on recent form if he is to taste success again.

In between suffering first-round losses at the French Open and Wimbledon, the Frenchman saw his defence of the Topshelf Open - the other title he claimed in 2013 - ended at the quarter-final stage by Roberto Bautista-Agut.

Hewitt was another player to make an early exit from Wimbledon, losing a five-set thriller to Jerzy Janowicz in the second round.

However, the former world number one did show the fighting spirit he is renowned for during that match, coming from two sets down to force a decider.

World number 11 Isner is the highest ranked player in the field, but Australian teenager Nick Kyrgios, who caused a sensation at the All England Club by knocking out world number one Rafael Nadal en route to the quarter-finals, has withdrawn from the event.

Kyrgios tweeted on Friday: "Unfortunately due to a hip issue & tiredness I am not playing in @TennisHalloFame in Newport but thanks for the WC (wildcard) offer guys & good luck."

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