Mahut beats Hewitt for Hall of Fame title

French wild card Nicolas Mahut rallied from a set down to defeat Australia\'s Lleyton Hewitt Sunday in the final at the Hall of Fame Championships. Mahut battled back from a first set loss to take a 5-7, 7-5, 6-3 victory over the 2012 runner-up Hewitt on center court. Mahut breezed past American Michael Russell 6-2, 6-2 in the semis earlier Sunday to reach the final and became the first Frenchman to claim the Newport title since Fabrice Santoro five years ago. The 31-year-old improved to 2-2 all-time in title matches on the ATP Tour. He clinched his first career ATP title last month at \'s-Hertogenbosch. Hewitt ousted two-time reigning champion John Isner earlier Sunday in a rematch of last year\'s final to advance to the title match for a second consecutive year. Hewitt, who was seeded fourth, took the first set from the Frenchman but was unable to close the deal. With the loss, Hewitt falls to 28-17 overall in ATP Tour finals. He is 7-2 in finals on grass. Mahut, who had lost the only two previous contests with the Aussie, collected $78,000 in prize money. From: AFP