2005p4

Hewitt Puts in Hard Yards as New Season Approaches

Lleyton Hewitt has ramped up his pre-season training in hot Australian conditions to prepare for an aggressive start to the 2006 ATP circuit. Hewitt, who has played just one tournament since the US Open and became a first-time father in November, will play Adelaide, Sydney and the Australian Open in a busy start to the year.

Hewitt told Bay Area media during a teleconference to announce his participation in the 2006 SAP Open in San Jose that he had been working hard to be in peak physical condition for the start of the season.

“I've just been training a lot, five or six weeks now, obviously getting my body in as good as shape as possible. A lot of time spent in the gym and on the track. But then also now hitting a lot of balls as well, trying to get used to the Rebound Ace court here in Australia and the hot conditions. I've been fortunate. It's been extremely hot the last few weeks. I'll be well prepared going into the three tournaments, Adelaide, Sydney and Melbourne.”

Hewitt and wife Bec celebrated the birth of their first child, daughter Mia Rebecca, on November 29 in Sydney. Hewitt said that he is delighted to be a father. “I think the biggest thing for me is just the amazement of seeing a child of Bec and myself born, someone to look after for the rest of your life. That's probably been the most amazing thing. Just to see how she's really ours, to teach her everything we know as best as possible. It's been an amazing feeling so far.”

Hewitt finished the 2005 season ranked No. 4 on the ATP circuit - his fourth top four ranking in the last five years. Hewitt will return to San Jose February 13-19 for the first time since defeating Andre Agassi in a third-set tie-break in the 2002 final in one of the best finals in recent years.

“The final was one of the greatest matches I've ever been a part of against Andre,” Hewitt said. “To come out and play a third-set tiebreaker, and the tennis stayed at such a high level for all three sets, it was a fantastic atmosphere out there. It was a real adrenaline rush. I remember the third-set tiebreak was pretty remarkable. We played a couple of huge points out there. I watched the match on DVD a few times that following year after we played it. Some of the tennis was remarkable.”

Hewitt said that World No. 1 Roger Federer would again be the player setting the pace in 2006, but added that the Swiss was not unbeatable. “Federer obviously has taken the game to a new level. I felt I was able to take it to a new level a couple years ago.

“I think a lot of the guys are capable of pushing him out there. It's just a matter of doing it on the big stage in the big matches. That's where Roger has been so good in the last few years. Apart from the loss to Nalbandian in the Masters Cup final, his run in finals was incredible. That's when he's played his best tennis, in the big matches.”

Baby Hewitt

Newest Hewitt named Mia Rebecca

Monday Dec 5 16:00 AEDT

Tennis champion Lleyton Hewitt and his actor wife Bec have named their baby daughter Mia Rebecca.

2GB broadcaster Alan Jones, a good friend of the couple, revealed the name on air on Monday morning.

The Hewitts' manager Rob Aivatoglou confirmed the name later.

"The naming, Mia Rebecca, is very accurate and they made the naming decision over the last couple of days. Bec and Lleyton only told close friends and family over the weekend," he said.

Mr Aivatoglou did not know whether the name Mia had special significance for the couple.

Mrs Hewitt gave birth to Mia last Tuesday, November 29, at Sydney's North Shore Private Hospital.

The family has now settled back at their Palm Beach mansion on Sydney's north shore peninsula.

Bec and Lleyton Hewitt have welcomed the birth of their first child, a girl.

"Lleyton and Bec Hewitt are pleased to announce the overnight arrival of their first child, a healthy baby girl," publicist Rob Aivatoglou said today.

The baby girl was born at Sydney's North Shore Private Hospital at 1.45 am (AEDT).

"At this stage Lleyton and Bec have not announced a name for their new arrival," Mr Aivatoglou said.

"Mother and baby are both doing extremely well. Lleyton and Bec are absolutely thrilled.

"Most importantly, everything went smoothly and mother and daughter are well.

"Bec and Lleyton very much look forward to taking their daughter home in the coming days."

Mr Aivatoglou said the couple had no further comment other than to thank the public for their "generous support" in recent weeks.

"They have genuinely appreciated the thoughts of well wishes as this most exciting time in their lives has approached," he said.

Hewitt puts family first
By Leo Schlink
November 9, 2005

LLEYTON Hewitt's 2005 season formally ended yesterday with a predictable scratching from the Tennis Masters Cup in Shanghai, but the repercussions could linger into the Australian summer.

Currently No.4 in the world, Hewitt could slip down the order for January's Australian Open, depending how his rivals perform in Shanghai from Sunday.

The slide would impact on Hewitt's seeding at Melbourne Park from January 16-19.

That won't bother the feisty baseliner, who finished 2003 ranked 17th, yet quickly climbed back into single figures.

The $123,000 he was to have collected for simply completing the round-robin phase in China this week is part of a huge sum Hewitt has left on the table this year.

The South Australian's injury travails, marriage to actress Bec Cartwright and reluctance to leave Australia with the couple's first child imminent, means Hewitt has completed his lightest season. He has contested just 10 tournaments plus two rounds of Davis Cup, for a win-loss record of 37-9 and earnings of $1,998,194.

After winning another Sydney title, Hewitt reached the final of the Australian Open and both the Wimbledon and US Open semi-finals, losing each time to nemesis Roger Federer.

Hewitt will now prepare for the Australian summer circuit, starting with Adelaide in the New Year.

"But everybody has been understanding of my situation at such an important time.

"Everybody understands how important it is for me to be with Bec at this time. Under the circumstances, it would have been impossible to do justice to Shanghai."

Hewitt sought - and was granted - a release from the Masters, to be replaced by Gaston Gaudio of Argentina.

Hewitt's manager Rob Aivatoglou said that the former world champion would begin to intensify his Australian summer build-up as soon as the baby was born.

"Lleyton will commence preparations for the Australian summer with coach Roger Rasheed as soon as possible," Aivatoglou said.

"His first tournament will be in Adelaide in early January, followed by Sydney and then the Australian Open," he said.

Hewitt suffered groin, hip and feet problems this year, restricting the right-hander to competing at three of the four majors and only three of the nine Masters series events, which carry large rankings and prizemoney pools.

For all that, he has spent much of the season at No.2 and will finish the year inside the top eight.

There was better news for Tennis Masters Cup officials in Shanghai yesterday when world No.3 Andy Roddick shrugged off a back injury and declared himself fit.

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Pregnant pause in Hewitt's career
By Linda Pearce
October 25, 2005

LLEYTON Hewitt's participation in next month's prestigious Tennis Masters Cup is reliant on his first child not arriving too early, but his recovery from a groin injury and toe surgery not occurring too late.

Hewitt, the world No. 4, is assured of a place in the eight-man Masters field for which Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Andy Roddick and Marat Safin have qualified. A two-time Masters Cup winner, Hewitt was runner-up to Federer in 2004.

But Hewitt, who remains at home in Sydney with his heavily pregnant wife, Bec Cartwright, is unlikely to contest next week's Paris Masters, just as he missed last week's event in Madrid. A decision on Hewitt's participation in the Masters Cup, starting in Shanghai on November 7, will probably be left as late as possible.

Hewitt's manager, Rob Aivatoglou, said neither the groin, nor the toe, had healed completely.

"He's still not right, unfortunately," Aivatoglou said yesterday.

"Another crucial factor is the baby. Lleyton's been very clear in terms of explaining that Bec and the baby will come first and he's very committed to being on the scene when the baby arrives. So just depending on how Bec is and predicted dates, etc, he's going to have to make a judgement call — that's assuming his injuries are right."

Despite several months on the sidelines, Hewitt has built a 37-9 record this season, winning the Sydney title and reaching three additional finals, including the Australian Open.

Mark Philippoussis' dramatic slide down the ATP rankings seems not to have diminished his status among tournament directors, with this week's invitation into the St Petersburg Open the 12th wildcard favour the fading Australian has received in 2005. Philippoussis, 28, meets Russian qualifier Teimuraz Gabashvili in the first round, having staged a revival of sorts at his most recent tournament start, in Metz, France, two weeks ago. Before reaching the Metz quarter-finals, he had been winless since progressing to the second round at Wimbledon in June.

The latest wildcard delivers Philippoussis a further reprieve from the ignominy of a Challenger circuit appearance, where he most recently competed almost a decade ago. In that time, he has anchored two triumphant Davis Cup teams, reached two grand slam finals and achieved a peak ranking of No. 8.

In the latest ATP singles rankings, Philippoussis slipped two places to 178th, behind Hewitt (four), Wayne Arthurs (96), Peter Luczak (158) and Chris Guccione (163).

Hewitt Clinches Return to Shanghai

Lleyton Hewitt, currently in fourth place in the INDESIT ATP 2005 Race, has secured a spot in Tennis Masters Cup Shanghai, the $4.45 million circuit finale. He qualifies because there are no longer enough ATP tournament points available for four other players to pass him in the INDESIT ATP 2005 Race.

Hewitt has posted a 37-9 record in 2005, winning the title in Sydney while reaching the finals at the Australian Open and the Pacific Life Open, the ATP Masters Series in Indian Wells. The 24-year-old Australian has lost to the eventual champion in each of the last seven Grand Slams that he has played. He missed two and a half months of this season due to foot and rib injuries.

In 2002, when the Tennis Masters Cup was last held in Shanghai, Hewitt defeated Juan Carlos Ferrero to claim his second consecutive title in the prestigious event.

Hewitt will be making his fifth appearance in Tennis Masters Cup, and owns a 13-5 record in the event, which ties him with World No. 1 Roger Federer for the most wins in Tennis Masters Cup history (since 2000). In 2001, Hewitt claimed the title on home soil in Sydney with a win over Sebastien Grosjean in the final. One year later, he defended that title in Shanghai and finished as the year-end No. 1 for the second consecutive season. Last year at the 2004 Tennis Masters Cup, Hewitt reached the final where he lost to Federer.

Five of the eight spots for singles at Tennis Masters Cup Shanghai now have been confirmed. Hewitt joins Federer, Rafael Nadal, Andy Roddick and Marat Safin in the field. Just 104 points separates the INDESIT ATP 2005 Race No. 7 Nikolay Davydenko, who currently stands as the last man into the field, and No. 15 Robby Ginepri.

Ginepri and fellow Madrid semifinalists David Nalbandian and Ivan Ljubicic will try to better their standing this weekend in Madrid.

"It's about Masters Cup. That goal, it's closer and closer," said Ljubicic after his win over Fernando Gonzalez on Friday in Madrid. "It's not close, but it's closer. You know, today it was extremely important match because Fernando was six points behind me. You know, a lot of guys are still fighting for that spot. You know, every match now, the more I go on, it's more and more important, the bigger and the bigger the stakes are in there. I felt like it was quite important match to win."

The remaining three singles spots will be determined between this weekend's play in Madrid, at tournaments next week in Basel, Lyon and St. Petersburg, and at the BNP Paribas Masters in Paris (Oct. 31-Nov. 6).

Hewitt on track for Masters Cup

Date: 10/10/05
By Darren Walton
7news sport

Providing wife and unborn child are doing well, Lleyton Hewitt - the most successful player in the five-year history of the Tennis Masters Cup - will again contest the prestigious season-ending championship in Shanghai.

Hewitt has entered the season's two remaining Masters Series events in Madrid and Paris this month, but is almost certain to miss both as he recovers from minor toe surgery and the groin injury that forced his withdrawal from the quarter-finals in Bangkok two weeks ago.

The former world No.1's participation in the lucrative Masters Cup from November 13-20 has been up in the air since it emerged his actress wife Bec Cartwright was pregnant with the couple's first child later this year.

But Hewitt's management have revealed Cartwright was not due until "late November" - a week after the completion of the tournament, thus opening a window of opportunity for the 24-year-old to chase an unprecedented third Masters Cup crown.

"Lleyton is keen to play but the baby and Bec are his priorities," Rob Aivatoglou said.

"One of the challenges here is we're dealing with nature. It's one of the peculiarities in life. We're waiting to see how it all unfolds over the next few weeks.

"Obviously as she goes through the pregnancy, she will be in constant dialogues with her doctors. Hopefully it will all go smoothly and Lleyton will make his tennis decisions around that."

Under ATP guidelines, Hewitt could gain exemption from the lucrative event because his expectant wife would be a reason other than injury "that constitutes good cause".

While such an exemption is unprecedented at a Masters Cup, an ATP spokesman said it was probably a more than reasonable excuse for Hewitt not to play should he want out.

Hewitt has yet to officially clinch a spot in the elite eight-man field but his qualification is all but a formality.

He sits comfortably in fourth position in the 2005 ATP Champions Race with a lead of more than 150 points over a batch of clay courters who are extremely unlikely to bridge the gap over the remainder of the European indoor season.

Hewitt is the only player to have reached three Masters Cup finals, winning back-to-back in 2001-02, including the one and only previous edition in Shanghai three years ago.

He lost last year's final to world No.1 Roger Federer, who also has two titles but whose record falls marginally short of Hewitt's with the Swiss master only reaching the semi-finals in his only other appearance.

Aivatoglou said Hewitt should be back on court training within the next week or two.

Copyright © 2005 AAP, Seven Network (Operations) Ltd

EVEN though her baby is due in fewer than six weeks, Bec Cartwright has flown to Adelaide to help nurse her husband, Lleyton Hewitt, following surgery on his left foot.

The devoted young couple flew from Sydney to Hewitt's home town of Adelaide on Monday so the world No.3 could have surgery to correct soreness in his big toe.

He was on crutches with his toe bandaged and appeared to be in pain when he and a weary-looking Cartwright returned to Sydney on Friday afternoon.

Hewitt, 24, who had surgery on his right foot in April, is also recovering from a groin injury that forced him out of the Thailand Open only minutes before a quarter-final last week.

Cartwright, 22, has rarely left her husband's side since the couple married at the Sydney Opera House in July.

And while Hewitt will not confirm whether he will return to international competition later this year, he has said the baby is the "priority" in his life.

"Life hasn't changed a whole heap ? it's obviously going to change," Hewitt conceded during the US Open in September.

"Bec and the child are first priority, but tennis is 100 per cent when I'm on the court."

Hewitt, who will be out of action for the next two weeks, is expected to remain with Cartwright at their $4.5 million mansion until their child is born.

Cartwright said she wanted at least 12 months out of the limelight when she left Home And Away earlier this year.

New foot op for Hewy
Leo Schlink
08oct05

LLEYTON Hewitt has had foot surgery for the second time this year.

The world No.3 was operated on in Adelaide to remedy soreness in a toe on his left foot.
The US Open and Wimbledon winner is not expected to be able to practise for at least two weeks as he also recovers from a groin strain.

The groin injury forced Hewitt to pull out of the Thailand Open 45 minutes before his scheduled quarter-final with Paradorn Srichaphan last week.

Hewitt had a cyst removed from his right foot during surgery in April.

His manager, Rob Aivatoglou, said Hewitt had decided to have the latest operation while overcoming the groin complaint.

"The groin injury meant Lleyton could have the toe operation in terms of timing," Aivatoglou said. "He'll be inconvenienced for a week or two.

"We've decided to have the operation now to allow Lleyton to prepare for the rest of the season and to be ready for the Australian circuit."

Hewitt, 24, has just three more tournaments on his 2005 radar.

By dint of his high ranking, Hewitt is automatically entered for the Masters series events in Madrid (October 17-23) and Paris (October 31-November 6).

He is sitting in fourth place in the race to qualify for the Masters Cup in Shanghai from November 13-20.

WOMAN'S Day magazine has paid an astronomical $1 million to "own" golden couple Bec and Lleyton Hewitt for one year.

The Australian Consolidated Press title has scooped its higher-selling rival New Idea by securing the deal with the lucrative newlyweds just months before the birth of their first child.

The publishing coup – which will see the gossip mag own the rights to every story about the couple and their baby over the next 12 months – is also a major win for newly hired ACP consultant Jenni Gilbert.

Prior to her short stint as director of communications at Channel 9, Gilbert was editor in chief at New Idea.

It was Gilbert who initiated New Idea's relationship with Hewitt and his then blushing bride-to-be, stitching up a reported $500,000 deal to bag the exclusive rights to their wedding extravaganza earlier this year.

Despite her success, Gilbert was strangely shoved from New Idea in May, but sweet revenge has come in the form of nabbing Australia's No.1 tennis player and his wife for the desperately competitive Woman's Day.

"Bec and Lleyton are not owned by anybody, and I know they sell very well," Gilbert told Confidential yesterday.

"As their consultant, I said it was a great idea and assisted with a couple of my contacts."

Gilbert wouldn't confirm the reported $1 million fee the Hewitts will pocket from the deal, but let's hope there'll be a swag of kids in a Cambodian orphanage who'll benefit as a result.

Sept 30
Lleyton Hewitt is sociable and a great sport who has suffered more than any other player in Australian tennis, retired doubles great Todd Woodbridge has said in his new autobiography.

The world number five has been under fire for his aggressive approach on the court, but looks to have found an ally in his former Davis Cup team-mate.

Woodbridge, the winner of a world record 83 doubles titles, including 16 grand slams, said Hewitt had suffered more from the media than any other Australian tennis player.

"Lleyton came under a lot of criticism as a teenager for some of his belligerent gestures and controversial comments. He'll probably admit he made a mistake or two but, in such a cut-throat sport, people shouldn't expect an 18-year-old to act like a 30-year-old," Woodbridge writes in his autobiography, titled Todd Woodbridge.

"He has had to learn about life while under public scrutiny, and also how to harness a ferocious will to win so that he doesn't overstep the line of what's acceptable.

"His in-your-face attitude hasn't always made him popular among fellow pros, especially the older ones. He's also had fallouts with the ATP. As he has matured, however, more people have warmed to him.

"Off court, he enjoys company and mixes well. In fact, he's more sociable than many of the top players, and is courteous to strangers."

Woodbridge said Hewitt was "sensitive".

"Some may find this difficult to believe because his court demeanour suggests he doesn't care what opponents and spectators think of him, provided he wins," Woodbridge said.

"But his fierce competitiveness masks an innate consideration of others.

"No one enjoys reading harsh criticism of himself. Like most of us, Lleyton wants to do the right thing and be liked. And mostly he does do the right thing. He is a good loser, never making excuses and always complimenting whoever beats him."

-AFP