2008 news and updates

May 7

Lleyton's hip continues to trouble him. therefore he has withdrawn from Hamburg Masters which commences May 12. No word as yet as to when he will return to competition.

May 1

Lleyton has withdrawn from Rome Masters because of his hip injury which hasn't responded to treatment as well as he hoped. He will endeavour to play Hamburg May 12

April 28

Lleyton Hewitt will return to the practice court with coach Tony Roche today and depart for the Rome Masters later this week, his manager, David Drysdale, said the Australian's recuperation from a hip injury had left him "a little bit underdone" for the early stages of the claycourt season.

Hewitt has been limited to occasional gym workouts since leading Australia to a 5-0 Davis Cup win over Thailand in Townsville two weeks ago, and poor weather in Sydney had limited outdoor preparations. After Rome, Hewitt will attempt to defend the 225 rankings points earned through reaching the semi-final of last year's Hamburg Masters, before taking a week off to prepare for the French Open in May.

April 18

Lleyton, a champ of the kids, too
GIVEN all the adverse publicity he has got over the years, it's a great credit to Lleyton Hewitt that we learn not only is he a champion of the underprivileged but goes about it without a hint of fanfare, preferring it goes completely unrecognised in the press. And a perfect example of that happened during the Davis Cup tie in Townsville last weekend when he flew a young cystic fibrosis sufferer from his home in the outer Melbourne suburb of Lysterfield to Queensland to spend the entire weekend with the team, paying for all his expenses including air tickets and five-star accommodation at the team's hotel. "It's something he does a lot of but prefers to keep it quiet," Hewitt's manager David Drysdale said yesterday. And what a weekend it was for 15-year-old Murray Brown and his brother Geoff whom Hewitt also treated to a trip to remember. Not only did the boys have breakfast every morning with Hewitt and sat courtside with him and other team members for every day of the tournament but, at the champ's insistence, Murray also got to toss the coin on the first day. And, for good measure, when it was over he sent him home with a signed hat, playing top, and one of his racquets. Said Drysdale: "You only have to have a look at Lleyton's website to see all the good things for people with special needs and his contribution to the Special Olympics in America. In the same tournament in Townsville a cerebral palsy sufferer was driven a long way just to see Lleyton play and Lleyton spent 15 minutes talking to him."

April 16

April 14

Already resigned to missing the Monte Carlo Masters, which starts on April 21, Hewitt hopes to resume in the Rome Masters from May 5. If all goes to plan, he would then contest the Hamburg Masters, French Open, Queen's Club in London, Wimbledon, Toronto Masters, Cincinnati Masters, the Olympics and US Open before the September 19-21 World Group playoff.

"At this stage (I'm) probably planning on starting in Rome, as long as I can get my body right," Hewitt said yesterday. "At the moment, I'm not really focused on the tournaments coming up.

"It's more getting my body right and hopefully being able to get some hitting time on clay before I've got to play the tournaments over there." Ranked 21st in the world, Hewitt will be under pressure to stay in the top 25 unless he performs strongly in Rome, Hamburg and Paris.

He has dropped the Poertschach event in Austria, where he was a semi-finalist last year, from his schedule. "I actually feel like the last couple of years have been a couple of my best years on clay," Hewitt said.

"You keep learning, no matter how many times you go around. I think clay when you first come on - being an Australian, we haven't really grown up on it - it's a totally different style of play. "Last year in Hamburg, I can't play much better than that on a tennis court, I don't think, no matter what surface it's on. "I probably should have beaten Rafael Nadal in the semis there in Hamburg, and then the French it's taken Nadal the last two years to beat me. "So if I keep putting myself in a position, maybe I'll get on the other side of the draw as him and play him a little bit later in the tournament."

April 13

April 12

A straight-sets victory in today's doubles rubber has given Australia an unbeatable lead over Thailand in the Davis Cup tie in Townsville.

Lleyton Hewitt and Paul Hanley outclassed Weerapat Doakmaiklee and Kirati Siributwong 6-3 6-1 6-0 to put Australia 3-0 up in the Asia–Oceania group second-round tie.

Australia can now look forward to a play-off in September for the right to re-enter the competition's elite 16-nation World Group in 2009.

The draw for the play-offs will be conducted early next week and the most desirable result for Australia would be a home tie against either Peru, the Netherlands, Israel, Brazil, Chile or Colombia.

The worst-case scenario would be a home fixture against Roger Federer's Switzerland, although an away tie against India or Andy Murray's Great Britain aren't exactly appealing either.

It could have been far worse, though.

Currently ranked 10th in the world, Australia are guaranteed a seeding – possibly No.1 – for the play-offs, meaning John Fitzgerald's team will at least be spared another showdown with Serbia.

It was the Novak Djokovic-inspired Serbs who sent 28-times champions Australia packing from the World Group for only the second time with a 4-1 humbling in Belgrade last September.

Australia entered day two against Thailand with a 2-0 advantage following singles wins on Friday for Hewitt over Siributwong, and Chris Guccione over Danai Udomchoke, and were keen to make swift work of the doubles.

And they were never troubled, dropping just four games, with Hewitt saying it was a relief to be a step closer to a return to the World Group.

"These are never easy matches. Obviously we were the favourites coming into the tie but you still have to go out there and get the job done," Hewitt said.

"And now it's a matter of winning the World Group play-off in September."

April 11

Australia lead Thailand 2-0

April 10

Davis Cup draw

April 4

March 29

Hewitt hip injury a worry for Davis Cup

Lleyton Hewitt has thrown a scare into the Australian Davis Cup camp, revealing he's suffering a hip injury which contributed to his first match exit from the Miami Masters.

Hewitt lost 6-3 7-6 (7-4) to Argentina's Jose Acasuso on Saturday and has only 12 days to recover from his hip problem before the Davis Cup Asia-Oceania zone second round tie against Thailand in Townsville.

"I just couldn't quite move properly," said Hewitt, who picked up the problem last week in Indian Wells.

"I went out there, and I tried and just couldn't quite compete the way wanted to. I suffered against it (Mardy) Fish last week, and I've been battling it ever since.

"I tried to do everything to get in shape to be ready today, but it wasn't quite there."

Hewitt's spring US adventure ended on a low note, with a 3-3 record from the Las Vegas, California and Florida tournaments.

While insisting that he didn't know exactly what the hip injury problem was, Hewitt knows he needs to get it solved.

"I was just trying to get as much treatment as possible in the last couple of days. I didn't hit yesterday to try to be right for today, but that's how it goes," he said.

"I didn't feel my footwork was great today, and that's what lost me the match, I think."

The former No.1's last multiple-title season was in 2004, since winning just one title per year. His lone 2007 trophy was in June at Queen's club in June on grass.

March 18

Hewitt was knocked out by American Mardy Fish, who beat the Australian for the first time 7-5 3-6 7-6 (7-4).

"It was close the whole way," Hewitt said. "He served well. I had a few slight chances in the third set and I wasn't really under a lot of pressure on my serve in the third set. "He played a great serving tiebreak to finish it off."

He will play Miami next week.

DAVIS CUP - Lleyton Hewitt will lead the Australian Davis Cup squad against Thailand in next month's tie in Townsville, Tennis Australia said Wednesday. Peter Luczak, at a career high of world number 69, has been recalled to the team which will play the Asia/Oceania Zone Group One second round tie on April 11 to 13.

The inclusion of 28-year-old Luczak edges out Alun Jones who was named in the team which last month beat Taiwan. Australia's Davis Cup Captain John Fitzgerald says it is still not guaranteed that Hewitt will play in the opening match.

"It depends on the week leading up, and obviously there's a fair chance he'd [Lleyton] play on the opening day, and he'd play their number two player on the opening day," he said. "Because that's the way the draw pans out but depending on the form of the other guys, we'll make a choice when we're actually there in the week leading up."

Along with world number 24 Hewitt, the team will include Chris Guccione (70) and doubles specialist Paul Hanley. The winner of the Townsville round will earn a berth in the World Group play-offs in September.

March 17

Lleyton defeated Mikhail Youzhny  7-5 6-1 in the 3rd rd.

Lleyton was a bit shakey, going down 4-2 in the first set against Mikhail Youzhny before finding his range. Hewitt, the world No.24 and back-to-back winner in 2002 and 2003, levelled the match and broke the Russian world No.13 again in the 11th game before serving out the set.Youzhny imploded in the second, eventually finishing with 44 unforced errors to hand the former world No.1 a 7-5 6-1 victory.

March 16

Contrary to predictions, Lleyton had an impressive second rd victory against Sam Querrey in his 1st match at this year's Indian Wells tournament, 6-4 6-3. He was in fine form to break his opponent to love in the 9th game and went on to serve out the set 6-4. He won the second set after breaking Querrey twice to lead 3-0. Querrey rallied to regain a break however Lleyton was always in front and won the 2nd set 6-3. He will now meet Youzny, from Russia, on Tuesday, US time.

March 15

Something has to give when streaking Sam Querrey takes on veteran Lleyton Hewitt in the second round of the Pacific Life Open on Sunday. Querrey will try to blow his opponent away with huge serves and forehands, while Hewitt will merely attempt to keep too many balls in play.

Although Sam Querrey has been on the pro tour for two years now and Lleyton Hewitt has been around for a decade, this second-round battle in Indian Wells will be the first time the two players have ever squared off head-to-head. Will Querrey’s power be too much for the Aussie to contend with, or will Hewitt frustrate the up-and-coming American by getting ball after ball back in the court?

If recent form is any indication, Hewitt could have some serious trouble in this match even though he is seeded 24th, whereas Querrey is unseeded. Other than his epic win over Baghdatis in Australia that ended after 4:30 in the morning, Hewitt has really struggled this season. In Rotterdam he got caught looking ahead to a potential second-round clash with Rafael Nadal and lost to unheralded Andreas Seppi in a third-set tiebreaker. Most recently in Las Vegas, Hewitt took out slumping Marat Safin in round one before being stunned by Julien Benneteau.

The 20-year-old Querrey, on the other hand, is playing the best tennis of his life. He is coming off his first-ever ATP title, which he captured last week at the Tennis Channel Open in Las Vegas, where Hewitt was the No. 2 seed. Querrey had to save a match point in the first round against Sebastien Grosjean, but it quickly became a lot easier. He scored impressive wins over Nicolas Kiefer, Benneteau, and Guillermo Canas before ending the run of fellow youngster Kevin Anderson in the final. Querrey surged up to No. 48 in the world rankings—just one spot away from his career-high—and he appears to be keeping up that momentum at the Pacific Life Open. He dispatched Luis Horna 7-6(5), 6-3 in the first round, firing 12 aces in the process.

At 6’5’’ and owner of a massive serve and forehand, Querrey will present significant problems for his opponent. Hewitt prefers to play against guys who cannot overpower him physically, as he makes a living off requiring his adversaries stay on the court much longer than they would like. Players who have big weapons and can end points early like Querrey have an easier time of it with Hewitt. Nonetheless, it will be far from easy for the American. Querrey must serve huge, as he usually does, and most importantly he has to pay smart tennis. If he buckles under the pressure of having to hit so many balls to win points and starts going for ill-advised winners before the opportunities are really there, Hewitt could seize the edge in this showdown.

Querrey is playing with so much confidence right now that it is hard to bet against him. This match has all the makings of a grueling three-set thriller and those are the kinds of matches that Hewitt normally pulls out, but at this point in time Querrey just has too many weapons.

March 6

Lleyton Hewitt's luck ran out in Las Vegas on Wednesday, as the second-seeded Australian crashed out of the 436,000-dollar ATP tournament here at the hands of France's Julien Benneteau.

Benneteau shocked the defending champion 6-3, 7-5 to book a quarter-final berth against American Sam Querrey.

Hewitt, 27, has dominated here in recent years. He won the title in 2000 and 2003 as well as last year, and had reached the final in five of his six appearances, including the past two years.

But Benneteau brought that run of success to a screeching halt. He broke Hewitt five times to hand him just his fourth defeat in his last 31 matches here.

Hewitt, ranked 24th in the world, had cruised to a 6-1, 6-1 victory over erratic Russian Marat Safin in the first round.

However, his serve let him down against Benneteau, who is in search of his first career ATP singles title and improved to 6-4 this season.

Benneteau broke Hewitt twice en route to taking the first set and broke him twice again to lead 5-3 in the second.

Hewitt, showing a flash of the form that has earned him 26 career titles, held serve then regained a break as Benneteau double-faulted to even the second set at 5-5.

Benneteau, however, broke back and served out the match in 1hr 45min.

Lleyton will play Indian Wells March 13

March 4

Defending champion and second seed Lleyton Hewitt of Australia crushed Russian Marat Safin 6-2 6-1 in the Las Vegas Open first round on Monday.

Hewitt converted four of six break points and won 83 per cent of his first serve points to clinch victory in 58 minutes.

“I knew I was going to have to be on my game from the start,” Hewitt told reporters. “I was able to get up that early break in both sets, which is important.”

Safin double-faulted three times and made just 40 per cent of his first serve points.

Hewitt became only the second man, after American Andre Agassi, to win the Las Vegas title three times with a straight-sets victory over Austrian Juergen Melzer in last year’s final.

February 20

Lleyton Hewitt's third European indoor tournament in nearly three-and-a-half years has lasted one round and three hours.

The former number one, whose history of ankle injuries has disrupted his tennis travel plans in recent seasons, missed on a match point as he lost to Italian Andreas Seppi 3-6, 7-6 (7-4), 7-6 (7/4) at the Rotterdam Open first round overnight.

Hewitt last played indoors in Europe a year ago in Marseille, winning a round. Before that he last appeared under a roof on the continent at Paris in November, 2004.

"This is my only indoor event, so it's not like I need indoor matches. I didn't come here expecting a whole heap," said Hewitt, who is scheduled to play in just over a week outdoors in Las Vegas, where he will defend the last title he won.

The Australian's record in tie-breakers has come under scrutiny, with Hewitt now having lost seven of his last eight deciders.Seppi turned the tide in his win thanks to top tie-break play.

"I have the same mindset every year - to win," said former Wimbledon and US Open champion Hewitt. "I would have liked to have gotten a few rounds here, but I have to forget about it now.

"When you're at your peak, you game's on auto-pilot. You manage to get over the line in matches like this. "When you haven't had a lot of tight matches, you hang back waiting for things to happen."

Hewitt, who won against Marcos Baghdatis at the Australian Open in a match which ended at a record 4:40 am in Melbourne, said he was still pleased with his form at his home major where he reached the fourth round.

"I played well at the Open. I absolutely think I can get back to the top five. You just need a bit of luck, you need a break," he said."But once you get a quarter-final or semi-final at a slam, the floodgates open."

Feb 11

Lleyton will play Rotterdam Feb 18

Feb 9

February 8

Day 1 Davis Cup v Chinese Taipei
R1 - Lleyton Hewitt (AUS) d Ti Chen (TPE)  6-4 6-0 6-3
R2 - Chris Guccione (AUS) d Yen-Hsun Lu (TPE) 7-6(5) 6-4 7-6(9)

February 7

February 5

A REFRESHED Lleyton Hewitt hit the Taiwanese courts for the first time on Monday as he seeks to lead Australia out of the wilderness in this weekend's Davis Cup tie against Taiwan.

While Australia is favoured to defeat Taiwan, it is solely because of Hewitt, the world No.22.

Although he was written off by some critics after failing to reach the semi-finals of an event during the Australian summer, a closer examination of Hewitt's results suggests he is not far from reaching peak form.

After two easy wins in Adelaide, he was thumped by Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, hardly a disgrace, given the Frenchman's romp to the final of the Australian Open in Melbourne.

He was unable to break Guccione, who was at the peak of his serving game, losing in two tiebreak sets in Sydney, then ran into Australian Open winner Novak Djokovic in the fourth round in Melbourne. He should have won the first set despite his hopes being compromised by an all-night affair against Marcos Baghdatis a round earlier.

But the Taiwan side, led by world No.108 Yen-Hsun Lu, stacks up competitively against the rest of the Australian side, particularly on hard-courts, the surface for the tie beginning on Friday.

Lu, 24, enters the tie in reasonable form.

He followed a five-set loss in the first round of the Australian Open with a secondary-circuit tournament win in Waikoloa, Hawaii, where he thrashed veteran American Vince Spadea in the final.

He also boasts a win over Guccione, having toppled the Australian 7-6 6-3 in the first round of a challenger event in Memphis last year.

Yeu-Tzuoo (Jimmy) Wang, a former Australian Open and US Open junior finalist, has not played a tournament this year but pushed Sydney International winner Dmitry Tursunov to three sets in the quarter-finals of a tour event in Bangkok in September.

Guccione posted an early blow for the Australians in the quarter-finals of a challenger event in Guangzhou, China last week by defeating Taiwan's No.3 Ti Chen in three sets.

However the world No.86 was unable to justify his top seeding for the event by bowing out in the semi-finals.

February 4

Australian Davis Cup captain John Fitzgerald says his team must respect its opposition as it attempts to climb out of the Davis Cup wilderness.

Australia has travelled to Taiwan for this weekend's crucial first-round meeting of the Asia-Oceania group tie.

The two teams square off on Friday at Yang Ming Tennis Court in Khaosiung with the winner keeping alive its chances of returning to the World Group.

"We have respect for the Chinese Taipei players," Fitzgerald told media in Khaosiung.

"We have watched them in Australia, we have watched them the last three or four years, they are good players. We have had to bring our best team here to compete."

Australia's No.1 player Lleyton Hewitt said he was feeling fit after being bundled out of January's Australian Open by eventual champion Novak Djokovic.

"I know all of our team will be ready to go come Friday," Hewitt said.

He will look to boost an already imposing Davis Cup record that includes the most singles wins (30) in Australian history.

"It's good to be here, it's always good to be playing for your country," Hewitt added.

"We have such a rich tradition in Davis Cup so for us we're proud to be playing."

Compatriot, big-serving world No.86 Chris Guccione, is keen to build on a busy summer.

"I've played a lot of matches and I'm feeling pretty good at the moment with the way I'm hitting the ball," Guccione said.

Taiwan is likely to be headed up by world No.108 Yen-Hsun Lu who impressed in this year's Hopman Cup and recently won a Challenger event in Hawaii.

He has been ranked as high as 80 and beat Guccione in Memphis early in 2007.

The other singles berth is expected to go to Yeu-Tzuoo Wang, currently 147 in the world

January 23

Optus Australian Davis Cup captain John Fitzgerald today announced the five-man squad which will take on Chinese Taipei in the Davis Cup by BNP Paribas Asia/Oceania first round tie next month.The tie will be played on hard court in Kaohsiung from Friday 8 to Sunday 10 February.  

Australia’s number one player Lleyton Hewitt (world No.22) leads up the squad which also includes Chris Guccione (91), Alun Jones (137), doubles specialist Paul Hanley (10 in doubles) and Joseph Sirianni (146), who has been rewarded for his great form this summer. 

Darren Cahill has been reappointed as Optus Australian Davis Cup coach. 

“We have picked the team we think is best placed to beat Chinese Taipei on their outdoor hard court,” Fitzgerald said today. “We know that they have some good players in the Chinese Taipei squad. They are a dangerous opponent and we will need to play well to win this tie. “But I am confident we have the form and the players to win. We are all very determined to use this tie to begin our climb back into the World Group.” 

Fitzgerald was full of praise for the efforts of his players this summer. 

“Lleyton has played some sensational tennis here at Melbourne Park. Chris Guccione is in good form and had a great tournament in Sydney. Alun Jones has had some impressive results, Paul Hanley is one of the top players in the world and Joe Sirianni is in the best form of his life.” 

Optus Australian Davis Cup squad:
Lleyton Hewitt
Chris Guccione
Alun Jones
Paul Hanley
Joseph Sirianni

January 21

January 19

January 17

January 15

January 11

Lleyton Hewitt has been placed on the same side of the draw as world number one and defending champion Roger Federer for the Australian Open, which gets underway at Melbourne Park on Monday.

Federer starts his campaign for a fourth title against little-known Argentinan Diego Hartfield, while Hewitt's opening match is against Belgium's Steve Darcis.

Hewitt is likely to meet either former champion Marat Safin or 2006 finalist Marcos Baghdatis in the third round, while world number three Novak Djokovic would be his likely fourth round oponent.

"The segment of the draw that Lleyton's in is a significant one with the likes of Baghdatis and Safin in there," tournament director Craig Tiley said.

"That's a tough segment of the draw."

Hewitt has been seeded 19th and shapes as Australia's only realistic hope in the men's draw, should he play to his ability.

January 9

Number six seed Lleyton Hewitt has been dumped out of the Sydney International by rising star Chris Guccione in a fiery match on Wednesday afternoon.

Hewitt pushed his countryman to tie-breaks in both sets but the big serves of Guccione were too much for Hewitt, who lost the second-round match 7-6, 7-6.

There was plenty of passion from the former Sydney champion, who had a series of arguments with the chair umpire over line calls.

The final flare-up came at 2-3 in the final tie-break when he was incensed that Guccione was allowed to win a point that he was convinced had bounced twice.

Guccione told Channel Seven he is delighted to win against the Australian number one.

"It's nice to beat Lleyton he's one of the top players in the world," he said.

"I seem to love it out here. I've been in the second round here a few times and never been to the quarters.

"Hopefully I can play well tomorrow."

January 8

January 5

January 4

Lleyton Hewitt's Australian Open preparations suffered a blow when he was beaten in the quarter-finals of the Adelaide International.

Hewitt, the top seed, lost 6-4 6-2 to Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who served 14 aces on his way to victory.

"It's frustrating but I've got to look ahead," said the Australian.

"I still feel like I can play a lot better than that. I felt like I had a lot of chances out there but I didn't serve well on the big points."

World number 43 Tsonga beat Hewitt in their only previous meeting, at Queen's Club last June, and once the Frenchman had taken the first set and broken to lead 3-1 in the second, he was well in control.

Tsonga now plays Finn Jarkko Nieminen, who needed two hours and 46 minutes to get past American Vince Spadea 7-6 6-7 7-6.

The other semi-final will be between Australian wildcard Joe Sirianni and unseeded Frenchman Michael Llodra.

January 3

REVENGE was sweet for Lleyton Hewitt when he steamrolled Argentine Jose Acasuso tonight in straight sets, 6-2, 6-2.

"It felt like I was agressive at the start which was good, and put a bit of doubt in his mind."

Although he looked at ease on court, Hewitt's statistics tell a slightly different story, getting only 32 per cent of first serves in overall. Yet that was more than enough to push Hewitt through to the quarter finals.

"I played pretty well in all I think. Maybe my serving in patches was a little bit off, but I didn't drop my serve for the match so I can't be that disappointed.

"It's a step in the right direction.

"Everyone expects you to go out there and win, and I've stepped up to the plate and won convincingly both times."

Punters would be forgiven for underestimating Acasuso. With a ranking of 65 versus Hewitt's 21, the Argentinian excelled this year making his ninth ATP final and two other quarter final appearances. However nothing could stop him from being annihalated by Tony Roche's latest prodigy last night.

"There are not many things that are good enough for Rochey on the court I think, so we're working on it the whole time.

"Every minute that we're on the practice court there's a reason why we're out there and that's been the biggest change I think and I've really enjoyed it."

Off-court physical training is paying dividends for Hewitt. After beating Israeli Dudi Sela in the first round 6-2, 6-2, Adelaide's own looked refreshed and ready to leap after any ball. His agility and flexibility were noticeably improved, giving Hewitt the depth required to return to the top 10 of the world.

"I've tried to mix it up a lot with speed, agility, boxing and a lot of running," he said.

January 2