ATP, Hewitt mysteriously close case of fine and appeal

By Matthew Cronin
tennisreporters.net



Siggi Bucher
FROM THE SIEBEL OPEN IN SAN JOSE, CALIF. – An ATP Tour Appeals Committee has concluded its finding regarding No. 1-ranked Lleyton Hewitt's appeal of a $103,000 fine he was given in Cincinnati in August 2002 for refusing to participate in an interview with host broadcasters ESPN.

However, what was resolved is still a mystery, since neither side will speak in depth about it.

"The matter is now concluded," the Hewitt and the ATP said in a joint statement. "The ATP and Hewitt do not plan to release any further information regarding this internal matter, consistent with past practices regarding STARS program appeals. With the committee's decision behind us, we look forward to focusing on the 2003 season."

Last summer, Hewitt accused the ATP of lying about the matter and said he might reduce his schedule this year.

"When things happen like in Cincinnati, when you think about the way everything has been run, it's just not much fun," said Hewitt last summer. He who added that he might not follow the rules about how many tournaments a player is obliged to compete in and could ignore the importance of the No. 1 ranking. "There are times when you feel like (walking away) ... it is a great sport if the ATP would just get out of the way."

Hewitt hasn't played a regular tour event since losing in the fourth round of the Australian Open to Younes El Aynaoui and isn't scheduled to play again until March 10, when he attempts to defend his title at the Pacific Life Open in Indian Wells, Calif.

Last summer, ATP CEO Mark Miles implied that Hewitt's fine would probably will be reduced on appeal.

"Everyone takes Lleyton's comments in context that he's angry at the tour right now, but hopefully he won't be as mad once the dust settles," said Miles last summer. "The interview needed to get done. Sports is a very competitive marketplace and we need our players to be accessible to the public through the media. The tour has a set of expectations we expect to be met. The STARS program rule that passed by the player's council was designed by the players because most players believe it is their responsibility to promote the sport."

Tennis stars serve it up to the Shark
Bruce Matthews, golf
30jan03

GREG Norman didn't hesitate to nominate it as the most talented playing group in his countless pro-am experiences.

The trio beside him had an abundance of major titles to their names . . . in another sport.

The Shark played host to world No. 1 Lleyton Hewitt, dual US Open champion Pat Rafter and Davis Cup captain John Fitzgerald in the prelude to the Heineken Classic at Royal Melbourne yesterday.

Like most of the Aussie tennis players, Hewitt, Rafter and Fitzgerald love their golf as a means to escape the practice court boredom and challenge each other on another sporting arena.

Fitzgerald, an 11-handicapper at Kingston Heath and former world No. 1 doubles player, lifted a disappointed Rafter to square the match with the Norman-Hewitt team during a back-nine wager.

"Unfortunately, Fitzy and I got the balls together. Fitzy did well actually, that's the best I've seen him play in a long time. And Lleyton is very tough at anything he does," Rafter said.

"I've been playing a lot lately, so there's no excuses for my poor form. But it's good to get out here. It's a beautiful course, the best course I've played on."

Rafter plays off four at Terrey Hills in Sydney and he was the only one to show first-tee nerves, pulling the opening drive into trees on the left of the fairway.

"I didn't hit one left on the driving range," he grinned later.

Belgian player Kim Clijsters followed her boyfriend Hewitt, who plays off eight, from inside the ropes for most of the round.

Norman passed on tips to his playing partners during the leisurely final practice before today's first round.

"I don't really like to watch them play because they hit the ball so bloody good that they make me feel so bad about my swing," Rafter said.

"So I try not to look at what they do too much.

"But I love seeing their ball flight, the way they hit it with such ease."

Laver warns Hewitt to slow down
By Clive White (Filed: 26/01/2003)
The Telegraph

Notwithstanding another diagnosis of chicken pox in a fortnight's time, as was the case last year when Lleyton Hewitt's challenge for honours at the Australian Open also finished prematurely, the world No 1 may have to readjust his game if he is to fulfil his enormous potential.

That is the view of expert judges such as Rod Laver and John McEnroe. Whether that will help him win over fellow Australians too, is another matter: getting them on side could be his most daunting challenge of all.

It is probably just as well Hewitt will not have too long to dwell on his latest failure at his home championship, a narrow fourth-round defeat to Moroccan Younes El Aynaoui. This week he will be in Sydney practising on clay - his least favourite surface - in preparation for Australia's Davis Cup World Group tie against Great Britain on Feb 7-9, although, given the quality of the opposition, he might just as well have prepared for it by playing head tennis on nearby Bondi Beach.

Before he finally returns to his tournament season proper, which will probably be at the Indian Wells event in March - as it may be for Britain's Tim Henman - he may consider some of the recommendations from his peers, who believe he must acquire greater accuracy with his first serve - which is sometimes unacceptably below the 50 per cent mark - and attack the net more to shorten the length of his rallies.

John Fitzgerald, his Davis Cup captain, describes him as "sneaky tall", but even at his official height of 5ft 10in, he is not built for quick finishes, which means he has to run the opposition off their feet. Such tactics cannot be without some cost to Hewitt physically, in the long run. Laver, if anything, was smaller but it did not prevent him dominating bigger men for an entire decade.

The Rockhampton Rocket was in Melbourne last week along with Margaret Court, another Australian tennis legend of the Sixties, to launch their Australia Post Legend stamps. He was asked what he thought of his young successor, whose defeat in the arena which bears Laver's name meant that a 27th year had passed without a domestic winner of a championship which once was regarded as the personal property of the likes of Laver, Emerson and Newcombe.

Still looking young enough to compete on the seniors' circuit, Laver said: "Listening to his interview while we were in California, he said he was beaten by a better player. And that tells me something about Lleyton, that he has a lot more to learn.

"He's a counter-puncher, he's extremely good at keeping the ball in play. He's got such speed on his shots that he'll eventually have to get to the net a little more often because he's going to find himself wearing out. You're just not going to be able to run like he's done the last three or four years. He's going to have to get in and get some cheap points, shorten the points a little.

"He can volley, he can do a lot of the stuff, even though he's shorter than some of the players he's playing against. He's got the footwork to solve that. I did OK because footwork is the thing. You don't need to be a monster to play this game."

McEnroe reckons he is trying to put too much pace on his first serve, something he remembers Michael Chang doing somewhat unsuccessfully. "His first-serve percentage was down at 47 per cent against El Aynaoui," he said. "He needs to get that up to 60 per cent. Maybe he should slow it down 5-10kmph and go for placement more. He got away from what made his game great. It's all about not beating yourself and not giving your opponent any easy points."

Fitzgerald believes that Hewitt will continue to "tweak" his game as is necessary. "I'm sure there are things that he can do slightly differently," he said. "Look, you can't win every event, he had a bit of extra pressure on him here and he handles that pressure as well as most guys. I heard an interesting stat the other day: Andre Agassi has played the US Open 17 times. Do you know how many times he's won it? Twice."

Pat Rafter was a two-time winner of the US Open who never won the Australian Open, but the Australian of the Year in 2001 (the year he lost to Goran Ivanesivic at Wimbledon) captured the hearts of Aussies in a way that the more intense Hewitt can never hope to do - and we thought it was only the Brits who loved a loser. And Rafter even had a spell in Bermuda while Hewitt was at home paying his taxes in Adelaide, which prompted one satirical website to nominate him as Bermudian of the Year.

"It's tough to judge a kid's character in press conferences," Fitzgerald said, "but if you see him in a private situation, he's polite, loves kids, he's generous and respectful of his elders. The thing with Lleyton, is he's got a bit of that 'white-line' fever. When he walks on court he's a competitive beast, that's part of what makes him great. But then I'm a Lleyton Hewitt fan - I'm just glad he's in my team."

I didn't want him to go
By BRUCE MATTHEWS
11jan03

LLEYTON Hewitt didn't want his mate Pat Rafter to go and even tried to coax him back to play next in month's Davis Cup tie against Britain.

The Australian Open top seed said yesterday he was surprised by Rafter's retirement after hitting with the dual US Open champion in Sydney only last week.
"We had a hit on the golf course and on the tennis court and he's still hitting the ball well enough to chop up a lot of guys on the tour," Hewitt said.

"I think's it's just more the grinding and waking up next day, being very stiff and sore.

"I was trying to convince him as much as anyone to come back and play Davis Cup again. I thought this year would be fantastic, even if he just came back and played doubles.

"I thought we could have had a pretty good combination if he came back and played with (Todd) Woodbridge and myself in doubles. We had obviously myself and Flip (Mark Philippoussis) and then Wayne (Arthurs) as the back-up singles player. It's not a bad team to go with.

"If we won the Davis Cup this year, it would be disappointing if Pat was not there to celebrate it with us. I think deep down he knows that his life has moved on with the kid and getting engaged to Lara and everything. He just wants to go in another direction."

The world No. 1 credited Rafter with resurrecting Australian tennis after the grand slam lull following Pat Cash's 1987 Wimbledon triumph.

"He has been incredible. He gave everyone in Australia, including myself and I'm sure Mark Philippoussis as well, the feeling that this is possible," Hewitt said.

"I think Australian tennis definitely started to surge forward because of him."

Hewitt recalled how Rafter took an interest in himself and another youngster Nathan Healey when Davis Cup captain John Newcombe and coach Tony Roche started the orange boy program in a first round tie against France in Sydney in 1997.

"Sitting on the sidelines seeing him come back from two sets down and a break down against (Cedric) Pioline . . . it's one of the main reasons why I wanted to play Davis Cup and why I loved Davis Cup so much," Hewitt said.

Rafter's coach Tony Roche said yesterday that Rafter could have still been an asset to the Davis Cup team, but he respected his decision to retire.

"There is no doubt in my mind that he could have been a big asset to the Davis Cup team and also a threat at Wimbledon," Roche said.

Davis Cup captain John Fitzgerald agreed.

"It seems that a true serve-and-volley player has as much chance as they've ever had to win at Wimbledon, and I'm sure that was a dilemma he faced. I mean, there is an opening there," he said.

"But, more than anything, you need 100 per cent motivation. If that's not there, it's not there."

Ken Rosewall, who won everything in tennis except Wimbledon in a career spanning 22 years, said Rafter would reflect on his near misses from time to time.

"People ask me all the time how I feel about not winning Wimbledon and I'd have loved to have won it. I'm sure Pat will think about it as well," he said.

with LUKE DENNEHY, PAUL MALONE and AAP

Rafter inspired me: Hewitt
2003-01-10 01:32 (New York)

MELBOURNE, Australia, Jan 10 (AFP) - World No.1 Lleyton Hewitt
was urging Pat Rafter just days ago to ready himself for the Davis
Cup this year.

On Friday he paid tribute to the popular retired champion as the
man who inspired Hewitt's own passion for tennis.

Hewitt spent time with Rafter in Sydney this week, playing golf
and tennis, where he cajoled the two-time US Open champion to have
one last crack at winning an elusive Davis Cup title.

Instead, Rafter on Friday announced his retirement from tennis.

"He's still hitting the ball well enough to chop up a lot of
guys on the tour," Hewitt said on Friday.

"I thought this year would be fantastic, even if he just came
back and played doubles.

"If we won the Davis Cup this year it would be more
disappointing if Pat wasn't there to celebrate it with us.

"If he was hitting in December and January and into February I
don't see any reason why we couldn't have had him in the four-man
squad, and depending on what happened on day one, maybe throwing him
into doubles."

It was Davis Cup that first brought the pair together when a
16-year-old Hewitt was invited to be an 'orange boy' with the
Australian team for the tie against France at Sydney's White City
courts in 1997.

January 11, 2003

Local hero's exit paves way for Hewitt succession
From Neil Harman, Tennis Correspondent in Melbourne
www.timesonline.co.uk

PAT RAFTER said that he still hopes to see us around some time, not exactly the sentiment that a departing tennis player usually offers the press, but, then again, the completion of few careers — even if it was known a year ago that he would not be back — has provoked such an outpouring of grief in newsrooms. The Australian devoted eight articles to Rafter yesterday.

The announcement of the 30-year-old’s retirement could not have been more pertinently timed, as the nation gagged on the draw for the 2003 Australian Open and wondered if Lleyton Hewitt might succeed where his best mate failed in nine heartbreaking attempts. Hewitt was asked what he could do to emulate Rafter and find an enduring niche in the affections of the Australian public. “That’s difficult . . . I don’t know, I really don’t know,” he said.

“When I came back from the Masters Cup in Shanghai, I can’t tell you how many people had stayed up to watch a delayed telecast. The support I’ve been getting has been great. I put my hand up every time Davis Cup comes around and that helps in the public’s eye.” Australians admire Hewitt, they love Rafter. There’s the rub.

At least Great Britain is spared the thought that Rafter might have come out of mothballs to lend his talents to the Davis Cup tie in Sydney next month, as Hewitt suggested he could. Given the state of the British resources, even a player who had not struck a ball for more than a year might have presented a sinister foe. But we have seen the last of Rafter, who should have won Wimbledon for himself and the cup for Australia in 2001. By then, his arm was really beginning to hurt and more than a year from the circuit did nothing to prick his interest.

Instead, Rafter became a father, buried himself in his charity work, played an enormous amount of golf (his shoulder could not have been that bad) and resisted all overtures to get back in his tennis garb. “I will have regrets that the Wimbledon and Davis Cup trophies are not in my cupboard, but that’s sport, you win some and you lose some,” he said. “I feel I can leave the game, satisfied with my achievements, knowing I gave it my all. I loved being a professional player, competing with the world’s best and making new friends all over the world.

“After taking several months for my arm to recover from stress fracture injuries I sustained in late 2001, I wanted to make sure that besides gaining physical fitness, I still had the motivation to compete. By the end of 2002, the motivation just wasn’t there.”

Hewitt came in to pay his personal tribute to Rafter, the man who took him beneath his wing when he was a 17-year-old “orange boy” in Australia’s Davis Cup squad and filled a teenager’s mind with wonders. The pair played golf and tennis last week and Hewitt had no idea what Rafter was planning. “He was still hitting the ball well enough to chop up a lot of people on the Tour,” the world No 1 said. “It was always going to be a tough choice for him because everyone in the world wants to see him come back again. He has been incredible.”

And so it’s goodbye to Rafter but, who knows, maybe hello to a home Australian champion in Hewitt. The outcome of the draw delivered Hewitt an unknown foe in the first round — he plays a qualifier — and, in the second, potentially Cecil Mamiit, the American who gave him a considerable workout on the Rod Laver Arena yesterday.

The first seed in Hewitt’s way is Gustavo Kuerten, of Brazil, who would have to outdo his best performances here — four second-round knockouts — even to reach a prospective meeting of No 1s past and present. At least Kuerten has confirmed that he will be giving Wimbledon, where he was a quarter-finalist in 1999, a shot again, having sidestepped the past two years.

Hewitt was asked what he thought of the draw and his response was typical. “A draw’s a draw, mate, you’ve got to win seven matches, that’s all I know.” His half bears many notable opponents — Andy Roddick, Marat Safin and Roger Federer for three — and also contains the match of the first round, Mikhail Youzhny, who broke the hearts of all France in the Davis Cup final last month, against 16-year-old Richard Gasquet, a musketeer in the making.

In the women’s draw, the first stop for Serena Williams, the No 1 seed, on what may become a procession towards her fourth grand-slam title in succession is Emilie Loît, of France, who reached the fourth round here in 1999.

For Elena Baltacha, the only British representative of the 256 entrants in the two fields (and that thanks only to a wild card from Tennis Australia), lurks Alexandra Stevenson, the American who was a Wimbledon semi-finalist in 1999, the No 15 seed.

Arvind Parmar’s 6-1, 7-5 defeat by Amir Hadad, of Israel, a man with the build of a nightclub bouncer, in the second round of qualifying meant that, for the first time since 1994 at Roland Garros, there was no British man in the main draw of a grand-slam championship.

True love to find its course  
By John Thirsk
January 9, 2003

LLEYTON HEWITT chose Sydney for his build-up to the Australian Open so he could stretch out his summer holiday with girlfriend Kim Clijsters.

And yesterday - the day after The Daily Telegraph revealed Hewitt is having daily practice workouts at White City - Clijsters gave an insight into the love affair that has helped drive the pair to the top of the world rankings.

After breezing into the quarter-finals of the adidas International with a 6-1 6-3 win over Patty Schnyder of Switzerland, world No.4 Clijsters said she had been spoiled with gifts at Christmas in Adelaide.

Among the presents she received were a necklace, earrings and ... a set of golf clubs.

Clijsters said the golf clubs were a gift from the Hewitt family.

But she said she would now have to dramatically improve her game if she wants to spend time with her highly competitive boyfriend on the golf course.

"I think he's [off a handicap of] six or seven," Clijsters said.

"I'll have to practise a lot."

Clijsters would prefer to be elsewhere while Hewitt hones his golf skills but the pair grab every moment they can to be with each other.

"It's just too much walking [on the golf course] for me. I think you have to walk around for five hours or something. I'd rather go shopping for five hours," Clijsters laughed.

Hewitt and Clijsters only get about four months a year together - meeting up at the four grand slam venues, another major tournament in Florida and enjoying precious time before the Australian summer season.

Clijsters, 19, feels just as comfortable with Lleyton's parents Glynn and Cherilyn and sister Jaslyn as she does with her parents and younger sister Elke back home in Bree, Belgium.

"I almost spend more time here than in Belgium, but I'm building a house at the moment. So as soon as my house in Belgium is ready, maybe I'll get to go home a little bit more," she said.

Clijsters doesn't expect to see Lleyton at Homebush as she strives for a tournament victory.

"If I get to the semi-final [Friday] or the final [Saturday], he'll be in Melbourne getting ready for the Aussie Open," she said.

Clijsters is thrilled that Australian fans seem to have accepted her as one of their own.

"I really got a very warm welcome when I walked on to the court today," she said.

"I played a few weeks ago at the Starlight Foundation here in Sydney and it was really nice to come back and see some people that I remembered.

"Australia is definitely my second home.

"I've been spending all my Christmases here with Lleyton's family.

"I got some earrings, a necklace ... so I was very, very spoiled."

The Daily Telegraph

Euro sense for stay-at-home Kim

By Patrick Miles, Adidas International
January 09, 2003

THE Australian Fed Cup team, bereft of success for 28 years, will have to continue to seek from within as Kim Clijsters is staying put in Europe, with no plans to emigrate.

Despite recent reports that her father, Leo, was investigating the financial benefits of living in Australia, the world No. 4, girlfriend of the men's world No. 1 Lleyton Hewitt, strongly suggested yesterday that her residential future lies in the lowlands.

"I'm building a house at the moment, so as soon as my house in Belgium is ready, I'll maybe get to go home a little bit more," Clijsters said after her comprehensive 6-1 6-3 victory over Switzerland's Patty Schnyder at the Sydney International Tennis Centre.

Her next match will be against American Chanda Rubin, who beat her compatriot Alexandra Stevenson by the same score. A place in the semi-finals beckons.

The Clijsters family is obviously aware of the advantages of residing in a country with relatively low taxes and interest rates, and with an exchange rate that doubles their dollars.

But while conceding that real estate in Australia is "a lot cheaper than Belgium", Clijsters is not interested, at least for now, in any Antipodean investments.

"I hardly ever get to come here, so it would be empty for a whole year, until the end of the year," she said. "So I don't really want to waste more money."

Chez Clijsters in Belgium also would provide a European base for her partner, Lleyton Hewitt, during the long months he has to spend away from the sandhills at Tennyson, near his Adelaide base. Clijsters, however, still rates Australia as her second home.

"Definitely, because I've been spending all my Christmases here with Lleyton's family," she said.

Christmas brought a set of golf clubs, a pair of earrings and a necklace from her No. 1 man. "I was very, very spoiled," she said.

Golf, however, will have to wait for a while, along with any decision to live in Australia.

"I think it's just too much walking," she said. "It takes too long. I think you have to walk around for five hours or something. I'd rather go shopping for five hours."

As for a future in Australia, she said: "Maybe when I stop playing. It's still far away, I hope."

Her countrywoman, Justine Henin-Hardenne, with whom Clijsters won Belgium's first Fed Cup title in 2001, also advanced to the quarter-finals, 6-1 6-0 against Slovakia's Janette Husarova.

Not even a week's honeymoon in the Bahamas and a period of training in Florida could prepare Henin-Hardenne for this week's dramatic climatic transformation. But the heat – 45C at the net – did not cramp her style.

"It's so hot out there," she said. "So I'm pretty happy that it was quick.

"I was in Florida to practise but it wasn't so warm this year there. So when I came here, it was a big difference, and especially because you're a little bit nervous."

Henin-Hardenne's quarter-final opponent will be South Africa's inspired veteran Amanda Coetzer, who defeated No. 8 seed, Magdalena Maleeva of Bulgaria, 6-4 6-1.

In the top half of the women's draw, Russia's Tatiana Panova faces Olga Barabanschikova of Belarus, and Slovakia's Daniela Hantuchova meets the winner of the match between the American doubles partners, Lisa Raymond and Lindsay Davenport.