MELBOURNE, Jan 26 AAP - Swiss world No.2 Roger Federer played sublime tennis to end Lleyton Hewitt's Australian Open in the fourth round.
The Wimbledon champion fought back from a blistering Hewitt start to win 4-6
6-3 6-0 6-4 in 2 hours 18 minutes.
In the quarter-finals he will play Argentina's David Nalbandian on Wednesday.
The Swiss champion blew away the memories of Hewitt's fantastic come-from-behind five-set win over him in last September's Davis Cup semifinal on the same Rod Laver Arena court.
Federer's victory was only his third win in 11 meetings with the former world
No.1.
Federer, 22, reached the quarterfinals for the first time here.
It was yet another Australian Open setback for 22-year-old Hewitt, who has never
been beyond the fourth round.
Hewitt began by breaking Federer in his opening service game and then fought off
two break points at 15-40 to consolidate the break for 2-0.
The two young guns traded several fierce rallies but a big Hewitt forehand
clinched the opening set in 34 minutes.
Federer fought off a break point in his first game of the second set, but it was
the Australian who was broken in the sixth game after he was angered by a foot
fault call by a linesman.
It kicked the Swiss out to a 4-2 lead and Hewitt lost his way.
Federer ripped through Hewitt's service three times in a lopsided third set,
with Hewitt losing a grand slam set to love for the first time in his career.
With Australia Day fireworks resounding nearby and lighting up the night sky Hewitt dropped the set in just 26 minutes, with the Australian missing his only break point opportunity of the set.
Federer played an extraordinary game to break Hewitt in the fifth game of the
third set when he made two unbelievable forehand winners to end exciting rallies
when he looked to be in an impossible position.
The point took a lot of wind out of the fighting Hewitt with Federer closing in
on a magnificent victory.
Federer had match point in the ninth game on Hewitt's service, but the
Australian gallantly fought it off to force Federer to serve out for the match.
He got to 40-30 and his second match point but he put a wild forehand out of
court to the roar of the Australian crowd.
Hewitt was fighting for his life and got a break point with the crowd roaring
him on but a backhand return was narrowly wide and Federer worked to his third
match point and won with a smash.
Hewitt Survives Nadal Test
Sat January 24, 2004 07:46 AM ET
By Julian Linden
MELBOURNE (Reuters) - Australia's Lleyton Hewitt survived a testing encounter
with Spanish teenager Rafael Nadal on Saturday to book his place in the fourth
round of the Australian Open.
Hewitt won the match 7-6, 7-6, 6-2 but the scoreline did not reflect the true
intensity of the challenge provided by the 17-year-old Spaniard.
"He's a hell of a player," Hewitt said. "It was a lot tougher than I expected. I
really had to raise my game.
"He really went up another couple of levels tonight.
"He's a great player. All the good stuff you've heard and seen about him...he's
going to be very good in a couple of years."
Hewitt, the 15th seed, next faces Switzerland's Wimbledon champion Roger Federer
in a mouth-watering fourth-round battle.
Considered the hottest prospect in men's tennis, Nadal showed no sign of stage
fright despite playing in front of a full house on the Rod Laver center court.
"I was nervous at the beginning of the match, just like any other match," he
said through a translator.
"I don't think I was overawed, well not much."
Nadal twice fought his back from a break down to force a tiebreaker but the
experience of 22-year-old Hewitt, who remains the youngest man in history to
finish the year ranked number one in the world, proved decisive.
PINNED BACK
He pinned Nadal back on the baseline and kept the ball away from his preferred
forehand until the left-hander's patience ran out and he made some vital
mistakes.
Nadal led 2-0 in both tiebreaks but lost them both and Hewitt grabbed a crucial
early break in third set when the Spaniard messed up a drop shot.
"I played pretty well tonight, I went hammer and tongs from the baseline,"
Hewitt said.
"Even the times I got broken he played a couple of incredible points but I was
really happy with the way I played in the breakers."
A natural athlete whose uncle Miguel Angel Nadal is a professional soccer
player, Nadal first came to attention when he won his first ATP match at 15
years and 10 months in 2002.
He was the ninth player since tennis turned professional in 1968 to register a
victory before his 16th birthday.
Nadal made his grand slam debut at Wimbledon last year, becoming the youngest
man to reach the third round on debut since 16-year-old Boris Becker in 1984.
He is already been tipped as future world number one but is trying to keep a lid
on expectations.
"I hope that one day I can reach that level but it's going to depend on a lot of
things, not just tonight's match," he said.
23jan04
The Courier-Mail
THE news that Kim Clijsters has taken up boxing has
unleashed unbridled speculation about the sexual politics of the love double.
Lleyton Hewitt is supposed to have the new aggression
reverberating through his skinny body for his first Australian Open win.
But Kimmy is now pounding the heavy bag and there are
those who suggest from time to time that if Lleyton doesn't give himself an
uppercut then somebody else should. And who better than the bride?
But in these days of unchallenged gender equality - not
that there is anything wrong with it - serious questions remain. Like, who
really wears the pants? And who does the dishes while the other one watches
videos of the Crows?
Going on yesterday's performances on Centre Court there
could be no question if Kim learns to work a decent right cross off her jab.
The results read Clijsters d. Maria Elena Camerin 6-0
6-0. Hewitt d. Karol Kucera 1-6 6-1 6-4 6-1.
Hewitt is also carrying the weight like an anvil
strapped to each ankle - of certain cursed wagers. Kimmy is suddenly looking the
fat cheque favourite in this one.
Unreliable sources emerging from the locker rooms have
concocted the theory that true to Australian tradition, and probably Belgian,
the biggest breadwinner reigns and never does the mowing.
And those big shoulders Kimmy is developing are from
taking out the garbage.
And while Lleyton has racked up $US11.7million in
prizemoney he won only $US873,000 last year while Kim became the first woman
ever to bank more than $US4million in a season to take her to $US8.1 million.
It might not be long before Lleyton is consigned to the
supermarket and washing the Land Rover. And if a little one arrives Kim will be
getting the beauty sleep while he is on the poop deck. Yesterday, in one of the
great embarrassments of an embarrassing tournament, in the first leg of the love
double, No.2 ranked Kim, in a fetching blue number, obviously surfie influenced,
with white waves breaking on it, played Italian dumpling Maria Elena Camerin, of
Venezia, dressed in plain white by Millers of Milano, with a matching thigh
bandage.
Her ranking was 92 after she had made noises in San
Luisi Potosi and Coatzacoalcos in Mexico last year. To get to this farce of a
second round she had beaten the Venezuelan Volcano Milagros Sequera in the first
round. Don't buy shares in Milagros.
Maria Elena could hit the ball, but not, to the
consternation of the paying public, always in the direction of the other end.
She won 23 points in her double bagel to Kim's 54. Five
winners to 25. Kim was supposed to have an ankle problem. She looked like she
could have dragged a Mack truck strapped to each ankle, even though she claims
she still has to ice them after the match.
There was, however, high drama in the last game, on
Camerin's serve. Kim - like someone used to the dishes - went to water.
There was a hint of another sensational collapse like in
last year's semi when she had eventual winner Serena Williams 5-1 in the third
set with two match points and still managed to lose - and had to paint the
garage.
She hit three backhand errors to waste match points.
Then an air swing on a 137km/h ace. It went to five match points.
It looked like Mundine versus Ottke, before she could
put the Italian away. It had taken 50 minutes. Many rose to applaud.
Then Hewitt came out and lost the first set to Kucera
6-1. The new aggression consisted of standing three metres behind the baseline
against the robotic baseliner who had taken just five games off him in Sydney
last week.
HEWITT snapped out of it in the second set as the Kucera
winners dried up and the double faults - 14 for the match - mounted.
He could feel Hewitt on him and was broken twice -
second time on a double fault - and suddenly looked demoralised.
He broke back as Hewitt lost it again, but the fire was
gone. But don't be fooled by the scoreline. This was not grand slam-winning form
by Hewitt.
Maybe the Sydney form, against the second-raters, while
the biggies like Agassi and Federer were playing an exhibition in Melbourne, was
deceiving. And next up he faces the hottest kid on tour, 17-year-old Rafael
Nadal of Spain, who lifted his ranking last year from 235 to 27. Kim faces Marat
Safin's smarter - but unknown - sister Dinara Safina.
Meanwhile, Kim was asked if she was being forced by the
man of the house to follow the Adelaide Crows against her will - a sadistic
proposition if ever there was one.
No, she said, she did it because she knew some of the
players and had learned the rules and loved the game.
But she reserved the right to change her mind - might I
suggest the mighty Swannies - if she wishes.
Trouble in paradise? If she gets a few tips on body
punching from Kostya Tszyu there will be only one pants wearer.
I was robbed: Kucera
By Paul Malone
23jan04
The Courier-Mail
SEETHING Slovakian Karol Kucera last night accused
Australian line judges of bias in his four-set loss to Lleyton Hewitt at
Melbourne Park.
Kucera's game collapsed after two line call disputes
early in the fourth set of Hewitt's 1-6 6-1 6-4 6-1 victory and later claimed
the judges were playing favourites.
Asked if linecalling at the Open assisted Australian
players, Kucera said: "I think so. Maybe today, a little more. There were too
many mistakes.
"It was a very important stage at one-all in the fourth
set. Everyone in the locker-room said those two were in."
Kucera took the opening set in 29 minutes, but a stunned
Hewitt responded by taking the next two, and the Slovakian did not win another
game after the two contentious line calls went against him.
Hewitt booked a third-round match tomorrow against
Spanish prodigy Rafael Nidal, 17.
"I was disappointed with the linespeople. There were
five or six mistakes in the match. I told the umpire after the third one he
should have a closer look."
Sydneysider Todd Reid was another winner yesterday.
Kucera, ranked 43 in the world, suffered from an attack
of the serving yips, culminating in four double faults in the last game of the
match.
He served a 14th double fault on match point, with his
second serve flying 10m out of court off his racquet frame.
Kucera has been Hewitt's summer fall-guy, losing to the
Australian in Perth's Hopman Cup and the adidas International.
"He (Hewitt) is one of the favourites to win. He's
playing very well," Kucera said.
But Hewitt's serve was broken five times in the
two-hour, 23-minute match and he will have to improve dramatically if he is to
negotiate a fourth-round encounter with Wimbledon champion Roger Federer.
"My goal is to prepare myself as well as I can for all
four majors. I'm not putting a huge expectation on winning one," Hewitt said.
"If I'm playing well, I'll have opportunities. I'd be
happy to win a Davis Cup this year."
Hewitt's forehand, responsible for 13 winners, was as
potent a weapon as any to tune up for a challenge by the talented Nadal.
"From what I have heard, he's going to be in the top 20,
top 10 in the next couple of years," Hewitt said. "He seems like he has a good
head on him and he had some pretty good wins."
Responding to Kucera's comments, Australian Open
spokesman John Lindsay said tournament organisers had complete confidence in the
linespeople and umpires and there were independent review checks and balances in
place.
"There is an ITF supervisor sitting on court and if he
thought there was any sort of problem, he'd advise immediately," he said.
23jan04
The Courier-Mail
JUDGES reckon he could be in the top five in two years,
but 17-year-old Rafael Nadal is no star at family gatherings.
Uncle Miguel Angel Nadal is handy enough with a soccer
ball to have played for Spain at the past three World Cups.
Miguel has played for Barcelona, and now his home-town
club Real Mallorca, in the Spanish first-division.
Young Raf played soccer too until the age of 12 - but
was so dominant in junior tennis his career choice was obvious.
With another uncle, Toni, at the coaching helm Nadal is
already in the top 50 and ready to take on the world.
Last April, he became the first 16-year-old to break
into the top 100 rankings since Michael Chang in 1988.
"Rafael will be the youngest No.1 ever," fellow Spaniard
Carlos Moya said last year.
And now Nadal will face Lleyton Hewitt, who currently
hold that record at 20 years and eight months, in the third round on Saturday.
Nadal, down a break at one set all, hauled himself to a
6-4 3-6 7-5 6-1 win against Frenchman Thierry Ascione yesterday.
It came after a knee scare, with Nadal battling on
heavily bandaged.
But despite the hype about him, Nadal is not so sure of
his chances against Hewitt on his home court.
"It's a very hard match ... almost impossible. It will
be difficult because it's here.
"['But] I'm still very young so I don't feel the
pressure of other people's expectations."
And Nadal isn't worried about the crowd being behind
Hewitt. He says he thrived against French opponents on away territory.
Moya, who practises with Nadal and acts as his mentor,
rates him as a bigger talent than fellow Spaniard Juan Carlos Ferrero.
"I didn't know Ferrero when he was 16, but he was 18
before he started to win satellites," Moya said. "I think [Nadal] will be a
top-10 player within a maximum of two years."
After he walloped Jiri Novak in Auckland recently, the
big Czech labelled him "the future generation", while Australian doubles great
Todd Woodbridge sees him as "the Andy Roddick of two years ago".
"He is physically already as strong as the best players
in the world," said Ferrero.
Last April, Alex Corretja was leading Nadal 3-0 in
Barcelona before Nadal reeled off the next six games against the former world
No.2.
Nadal's motto is "fighting to the last point". Hewitt
could have a battle on his hands.
Hewitt lends a hand
Shaun Phillips
22jan04
Herald Sun
LLEYTON Hewitt has wrong-footed officialdom by securing
centre-court seats for contentious supporters' group the Fanatics.
Australian Open organisers had refused to set aside
seats inside Rod Laver Arena for the Fanatics, saying their loudly partisan
approach to barracking offended the spirit of grand slam competition.
But Hewitt is a huge fan of the group, which has
provided a rousing score to some of the dual grand slam winner's most memorable
performances, especially in Davis Cup matches.
Now he's taken matters into his own hands, securing a
block of 20 seats for the Fanatics for his match today against Karol Kucera, and
for as long as his Australian Open campaign runs.
Hundreds of Fanatics filled an entire wedge of Rod Laver
Arena for the Davis Cup final two months ago.
Leader Warren "Wozza" Livingstone promised the chosen
few would make their presence felt today.
Livingstone said Hewitt's coach, Roger Rasheed, had made
contact to offer the seats.
"Lleyton's been a very strong supporter of ours, so it
was great that he could organise something," Livingstone said.
"I suppose it recognises that we know how to gee up the
Australian crowd and help people have a good time.
"It's also, I suppose, about knowing when Lleyton needs
a bit of a spur on.
"We're also trying to get in contact with Flip (Mark
Philippoussis) and the other Australians to see if we can organise something for
their centre-court matches."
The Davis Cup team, led by Hewitt and Philippoussis,
praised the Fanatics after their triumph over Spain at Melbourne Park.
Australian Open management stresses there is nothing to
stop individuals dressing up and sitting together, but it stands by its policy
of refusing to help partisan groups form blocks in the 15,000 capacity Rod Laver
Arena.
Livingstone said the Fanatics were careful not to
barrack against opposition players.
"We're never going to do anything that's going to put
the other player off," he said.
Membership of the Fanatics is open to anyone under 35
willing to pay for a T-shirt and open up with a song, a chant or a cheer. There
are 47,000 people on the group's mailing list.
The group was born during celebrations following Pat
Rafter's victory in the 1997 US Open.
Livingstone, who with friends had been cheering
enthusiastically for Rafter from high in the bleachers, bumped into tennis
legends John Newcombe and Tony Roche at a New York bar.
They suggested Livingstone and his mates head to a Davis
Cup tie in Washington the following week.
Livingstone is now a full-time Fanatics tours and event
organiser.
He has contracts with numerous sporting bodies including
Tennis Australia for the Davis Cup, and Cricket Australia to fill bays at
one-day international matches.
Hewitt looks to Fanatics for a little lift
By Linda Pearce
January 22, 2004
The Age
Lleyton Hewitt will supply his own mini-version of the
national cheer squad for his second round Australian Open match against Karol
Kucera this afternoon, in a bid to replicate the raucous "Aussie-oi" crowd
support on which he thrives in Davis Cup play.
Hewitt's coach, Roger Rasheed, will provide up to 30
tickets to members of the Fanatics, the official Davis Cup supporter group, who
are not allocated preferential block seating at the Open. Hewitt is a close
friend of Warren Livingstone, the Fanatics' leader.
"Obviously the Australian players feed off the support
and they think because it's their home Open, they should be able to do that,"
said Livingstone, who plans to approach Davis Cup team members Mark
Philippoussis and Wayne Arthurs in the hope of snaring surplus seats.
But, contrary to previous reports of a Fanatics "ban",
and Livingstone's belief that Open chief executive Paul McNamee is determined to
keep the cheer squad from doing their partisan singing and chanting routine at
the Melbourne Park grand slam, Tennis Australian spokesman John Lindsay said the
support for Hewitt would be welcome.
"What we said is that we don't make special provision
for particular groups, so, as a grand slam, unlike Davis Cup, we don't put a
particular block aside for a group for a particular country. We've never
'banned' the Fanatics, we just don't make special provision," Lindsay said.
"People can buy tickets and people can come dressed up,
that's part of the tournament, and we've got no problem with that, we never
have."
Hewitt said recently that he would welcome a sea of
green-and-gold shirts on Rod Laver Arena, as he attempts to pass the fourth
round of his national championship for the first time. "And it would be great if
they could emulate the emotional support Flip and I . . . got in Davis Cup," he
said.
"It was part of the reason Flip and I played so well. It
would be great if we had the same feeling at the Australian Open."
Line calls favour Hewitt: Kucera
By Linda Pearce
January 23, 2004
Lleyton Hewitt's opponent, Karol Kucera, yesterday accused the Australian Open
line judges of deliberate pro-Hewitt bias in their second round match on Rod
Laver Arena. "Even the linespeople helped him," Kucera said after his 1-6, 6-1,
6-4, 6-1 loss. "I think it was a little bit on purpose."
Kucera said he had asked chair umpire Norm Chryst, an American, to intervene
after three dubious calls, claiming there had been up to six line call
"mistakes". The Slovakian said it was the worst treatment he has experienced in
10 visits to Melbourne Park but added that, then again, he "hadn't played Hewitt
before".
Kucera said replays confirmed several of the errors, witnessed by fellow players
in the locker room. His only consolation was that he did not believe they
affected the result of the match, his third against Hewitt in three weeks. "I
don't think I was close today," he said.
Kucera faces a potential fine from the men's governing body, the ATP, if his
comments are deemed to be detrimental to the sport. "We encourage players to
speak openly in their press conference but with that freedom comes
responsibility," ATP communications manager Paul Macpherson said.
Hewitt's concern, meanwhile, is already with his next opponent. He knows a bit
about precociously talented teenagers, having famously been one himself, and
what he knows of his third-round Australian Open opponent, the gifted Raphael
Nadal, suggests to Hewitt that his next challenge will be his greatest so far.
"Very talented young player," said Hewitt of the 17-year-old Spaniard, already
ranked 41st in the world. "What I've heard, little bits I've seen, he's a hell
of a prospect coming up. It's going to be a tough match. I've got to go up to
another level, I think. I look forward to the challenge, though."
Hewitt has never shirked one and early in yesterday's second-round match against
former world No.6 Kucera, it seemed that his latest had come earlier, and
perhaps a little more threateningly, than expected. Hewitt took more than 20
minutes to win his first game but about two hours later had won the match to
reach the third round.
Kucera began brilliantly, his flat double-handed backhand searing repeatedly
down the line, and the first set was almost over in a blink. In 19 minutes, it
was 5-0, Kucera's clean winners were in double figures and Hewitt's errors were
mounting.
"I got off to a slow start," the 15th seed admitted. "Karol played extremely
well there. You know, I didn't feel I played that badly at the start. He played
a pretty faultless first set, though. I just knew I had to keep plugging away."
The problem for Kucera, and hopeful glimmer for Hewitt, was always going to be
the Slovak's ability to maintain the standard and to shore up a serve that, to
put it kindly, can be woefully brittle at times. Witness the 14 double faults
yesterday, so many of them on break points, and the last, which almost reached
the courtside advertising backdrop on the full, to almost comically end the
match.
Yet, for Hewitt, the earlier priority was to avoid his first 0-6 grand slam set,
and he duly held serve for 1-5 and then managed his first break point in the
following game. Kucera closed out the set 6-1, with yet another backhand down
the line, but Hewitt was in the match, if only by a fingernail.
He rarely needs more and yesterday was no exception. The sense of the turnaround
came early in the second set, as Hewitt settled into more of a rhythm, and
gradually began to work his way on top. It was not Hewitt's best win, or his
most convincing, but it did not need to be. Kucera rallied several times but was
never able to get back in front.
The day's hard-luck Australian story belonged to Wayne Arthurs, who led Spanish
veteran Albert Costa two sets to one, and was up a service break in the fifth
set, before falling 6-7 (5-7), 7-5, 4-6, 6-4, 8-6 in an epic match that lasted
more than four hours.
"It was just one of those very disappointing matches," said Arthurs. "I had it
in my grasp and didn't take it."
With AAP
This story was found at: http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/01/22/1074732545432.html
Hewitt vows to pull out all stops
By David Reed
The West Australian
MELBOURNE
LLEYTON HEWITT is banking on an even more aggressive
game plan to take him to glory at the Australian Open.
"It is something I have been working on in my game and
get more aggressive," Hewitt said after cruising through his first-round match
against Californian qualifier Cecil Mamiit at Rod Laver Arena.
"I felt comfortable against him out out there, I knew I
was in control of the match nearly every point. It felt like I was able to
dominate."
Hewitt moved through to the second round after a third
consecutive opponent retired mid-match.
This time it was the 27-year-old Mamiit who quit a game
after sliding into the umpire's chair and injuring his right ankle.
At the time Hewitt was leading 6-2 6-4 0-1 and victory
looked a formality. But he said it hadn't all been one-way traffic.
"He is a different kind of opponent," Hewitt said. "He
doesn't come out and cream winners at all, he doesn't try and put that much
pressure on you.
"You're sort of dictating play most of the time out
there, sometimes it is an awkward match-up, sometimes when you are actually
hitting the ball better, he actually counterpunches a lot better as well.
"I think everyone is just happy to get through
sometimes, especially when you don't waste too much time and energy.
"It is never the way you want to win a match but I've
got to go out there and try and focus on what I've got to do."
Hewitt has never made it past the fourth round in his
home tournament. His best finish was last year when he lost in the round of 16
to Younes El Ayanoui in four sets. He also made it to the fourth round in 2000
but went down to Magnus Norman in straight sets.
Yesterday's win was Hewitt's ninth straight victory in
2004, coming after a strong Hopman Cup performance and a win in the adidas
International in Sydney last week.
His opponents in both the semifinal (Martin Verkerk) and
final (Carlos Moya) in Sydney retired through illness in Verkerk's case and
injury in Moya's.
Hewitt will face Slovak No. 1 Karol Kucera in a testing
second-round match but his first big challenge is expected to come in the fourth
round when he is drawn to play Wimbledon champion Roger Federer.
Federer was superb yesterday in a straight-set
demolition of American Alex Bogomolov, 6-3 6-4 6-0.
Hewitt was joined in the second round by fellow
Australians Wayne Arthurs and Todd Reid while Peter Luczak was eliminated.
Cecil curses 13th loss
Ron Reed
21jan04
Herald Sun
LLEYTON Hewitt may well have a collection of voodoo
dolls stashed in his tennis bag -- how else do you explain the curse that has
now struck down three opponents in a row?
Day two results
But there's a good case to say it's not his fault this
time.
Cecil Valdeaville Mamiit, who became the latest victim
yesterday, hasn't been having much luck anyway.
The nicely-named son of Mr and Mrs Cesar and Felisa
Mamiit, of California, USA, won only two matches last year and lost in the first
round 12 times, which makes this, yes, No. 13, and therefore the work of the
Devil, not Little Lleyton.
Mamiit's ranking also slid 79 places to No. 195 and
given that he has won only two matches in five previous visits to the Australian
Open, you can only admire his persistence in making the trip again and battling
his way through the quallies.
He is, after all, 27 and perhaps should be looking for a
day job.
With that record, it is fair to suggest that he was
always going to prove to be the ultimate in cannon fodder once he was drawn to
play the local hero.
And basically, so it proved.
He began with a double fault, dropped service, and
despite giving this "Mission Highly Improbable" an energetic crack he
surrendered the first two sets before crashing into the chair umpire's tower at
the start of the third and damaging his right ankle.
You have to feel a bit sorry for him.
Then again, finding ways to get on to the injury list
has become something of an art form since the Open build-up began and it might
yet turn out to be a case of the last man -- or woman -- standing.
In his campaign to proceed past the fourth round for the
first time in eight attempts, he won't be wanting to expend more energy than
necessary in the early skirmishes, and certainly not when the court is shrouded
in heavy heat, as was the case yesterday.
Can he go all the way at last?
That's the burning question, of course, and only time
will tell -- but just maybe there is something to the growing suspicion that
someone up there, out there, in there, whatever, is surreptitiously stacking the
deck.
Certainly, he is on a most enviable roll.
The Davis Cup was a total triumph and he has been
unbeaten now for a dozen matches, three of which he hasn't had to win.
A couple of handy milestones have bobbed up that are
worth at least acknowledging, if not actually celebrating.
His Sydney success last weekend was his 20th tournament
win and yesterday's match was the 400th of his career, of which he has now won
306.
From any sportsman's perspective, that is a most
impressive stat.
There is a queue forming of well-credentialled people
tipping him to get back to the heady heights -- or very close to it -- of a
couple of years ago, when he was the Wimbledon champion and the best player in
the world.
Andre Agassi has said so, Boris Becker has echoed it.
And far from least, he has become engaged to the lovely
Kim.
So he's not only got good reason to be confident, but
happy and at peace, too -- and that hasn't always been entirely the case.
So far, so good, then.
As poor Mamiit limped away, perhaps never to be seen
again, Hewitt told the crowd: "I'll just take it one match at a time, and
anything can happen."
In the circumstances, he was getting no argument with
that.
Third time unlucky as 'curse of Hewitt' strikes again
By Chip Le Grand
January 21, 2004
The Australian
KAROL KUCERA is not superstitious by nature. But after
watching Lleyton Hewitt's last three opponents pull out of their matches in
varying degrees of pain, Kucera won't be taking any chances when walks out to
assume the most hazardous position in men's tennis.
"I'm taking care of my ankle pretty seriously," said
Kucera, who has turned more than his share in recent years. "Hopefully I am fit
enough to stay healthy."
Kucera was jesting in part. After beating Belgian Xavier
Malisse on a distant, outside court yesterday, the Slovakian will play Hewitt
for the third time in as many weeks. Having lost their previous two matches, he
has more to ponder than the ill-fortune besetting others.
But if the curse of Hewitt, as it has become known, is
not weighing overly in the mind of Kucera, Hewitt might still find himself
cutting a lonely figure over the next few days whenever he enters the men's
locker room or joins the queue in the players' cafeteria. If Kucera is not
superstitious, other players are, and the first week of a Grand Slam is not the
time to tempt fate.
When Martin Verkerk complained of sickness at the start
of his second set against Hewitt in Sydney last week and Carlos Moya rolled an
ankle the next day, other circumstances were available to blame.
Verkerk was taken by a mystery illness after a long rain
delay and, at the time, it was suggested that having already put together a nice
preparation for the Australian Open, the Dutchman lacked the stomach to take it
any further against Hewitt.
Moya's ankle meanwhile, has become a stock-standard
injury for players not used to the sticky, Rebound Ace surface.
The mishap which yesterday struck American journeyman
Cecil Mamiit however, was not so easily explained. Rather, it was nothing short
of bizarre.
Hewitt said he had never seen a player run headlong into
the umpire's chair. Nor had he heard of it ever happening. No doubt it has
happened somewhere and sometime before, but the probability of an eight-year
tour veteran jamming an ankle beneath a seated official appears remote at best.
If it had happened in an AFL match Mamiit would have been suspended for two
weeks.
And the plot thickens.
Hewitt has taken to calling his coach Roger Rasheed by
the nickname Mamool. Hewitt explained yesterday the name came about after
Rasheed punted his hard-earned dollars on the horse of the same name in last
year's Melbourne Cup. Rasheed's family is Lebanese and he saw an omen in the
fact that the Godolphin-trained stallion was named after a popular Lebanese
dessert.
Not only did Mamool run last and last by a long way, he
broke a leg on the Flemington track. The Godolphin stable has its own Melbourne
curse to worry about but the warning for Kucera and the other men left in
Hewitt's side of the draw is clear. Kucera will be taping that ankle carefully
indeed.
If there are strange forces at work around Hewitt, the
former world No.1 is not fazed. While the record will show he has claimed three
straight matches by default, he pointed out in typically combative fashion that
he had been winning every match before injury struck.
Mamiit's unlikely run-in with officials came after he
failed to run down a delicate, spinning volley Hewitt landed to close out the
second set. If not for the positioning of the umpire's chair, he might have
finished up in the second row of stands in the Rod Laver Arena.
After lengthy treatment from courtside trainers, Mamiit
returned to serve the first game of the second, but was reduced to hopping to
the net by the time he declared his Australian Open was over. The final score
read 6-2 6-4 0-1.
As with his Adidas International semi-final against
Verkerk and final against Moya, this was not the way Hewitt wanted to win. But
Mamiit is not a player Hewitt enjoys sharing a court with anyway. With the
memories of his first-round loss two years ago to Spaniard Alberto Martin still
ingrained in the Hewitt psyche, he was relieved to reach the second round.
Hewitt's relief was shared by a tour-weary Juan Carlos
Ferrero, who pushed aside last week's first-round loss in Sydney to roll past
fellow Spaniard Albert Montanes in a little over an hour. The biggest scalp of
the day was claimed by Frenchman Cyril Saulnier, who upset fifth seed Guillermo
Coria in straight sets.
Hewitt described Mamiit as a "different kind of
opponent".
"He doesn't come out and cream winners at all," Hewitt
said.
"He doesn't try to put that much pressure on you. It
wasn't too often that he actually came inside the baseline. If felt like he was
standing about 10 metres behind the baseline just trying to run everything
down."
Against Kucera tomorrow, Hewitt faces a different task
again. In their most recent meeting in Sydney, Kucera skipped out to a 4-0 lead
before Hewitt rallied to win 12 of the next 13 games.
"He moves the ball around well," Hewitt said. "He moves
extremely well. He's got a pretty good serve on his as well. It is no easy
match."
Kucera says the past two weeks have given him inside
knowledge on how Hewitt is playing and he has a few tactics in mind. That is, if
he can beat the curse and finish a match against Hewitt in one piece.
Kucera faces curse of Hewitt
By Jake Niall
January 21, 2004
The Age
Karol Kucera should take particular care tomorrow, strap
his ankles and avoid large, heavy objects near courtside. Kucera, you see, is
playing Lleyton Hewitt.
American Cecil Mamiit yesterday became the third
consecutive player to default to Hewitt, following the strange hexed pattern
established by Carlos Moya (sprained ankle) and Martin Verkerk (dizziness) in
the finals and semi-finals in Sydney last week.
Kucera can console himself that, although he has not
beaten Hewitt in two recent encounters - this will be their third meeting in
three weeks - at least he has completed the matches.
Mamiit ran into the central umpire's chair chasing a
cute Hewitt drop shot. He went down, clutching his right lower leg and writhed
on the court, before the trainers temporarily revived his ankle/shin via a spray
and wrap job, only for him to default after one hobbling service game (which he
won).
Hewitt had never heard of any player defaulting in this
manner and, while he did not wish Mamiit ill, he was pleased to progress with a
minimum of energy expended. "Your first match in your home grand slam is always
tough, I think. To come through, not waste too much energy and be through to the
next round, that's nice."
But it could not be said that Hewitt was the beneficiary
of his opponent's misfortune, since he was, in his words, "in control of the
match nearly every point" (6-2, 6-4) before the diminutive American crashed into
the chair.
With a two-sets-to-love lead - Hewitt took the second
set on the fateful drop shot - the Australian was headed for a straight-sets
quickie when Mamiit quit.
Hewitt, accustomed to relying on speed, energy and his
renowned mental edge against larger men, was in the unusual position of having a
significant size - and power - advantage over the 173-centimetre Mamiit. "It
doesn't happen that much, I guess," said the Australian.
Hewitt, thus, was able to road test his "more
aggressive" game plan against the little guy. "It felt like . . . unless he got
off to, you know, put a good serve in and he could dictate play from then, it
felt like I was able to dominate.
"It's something I've been working on in my game, to try
to get more aggressive in that." Hewitt has stated his desire to win, rather
than "save" matches. As a bulldog with an envervating style, he clearly
understands the importance of energy conservation.
While Hewitt had a relatively easy first-up match, his
battling Davis Cup teammate Wayne Arthurs confronted the very real, ugly
possibility of blowing a two-sets-to-love lead against a player he had never
seen, much less played before.
Arthurs finally prevailed over Croatian qualifier Roko
Karanusic, who had never won an ATP tour match, 7-6, 6-4, 6-7, 6-7, 6-2, in a
match that was extraordinarily tight, with three of the now mandatory Arthurs
tie-breakers.
The Australian was thankful to be on the right side of
an unplayable net cord in the fifth set, on break point, that delivered him the
first service break of the fifth set. "Wish I could pull that out of the bag at
any stage," he said. "Yeah, I probably needed it, changed the momentum a lot, I
think. I played a pretty good final set, I think."
Arthurs said all he knew of Karanusic was "that he was
Croatian" and a few tips from friends about his passing shots.
The match was a salutory reminder of the cigarette paper
that separates No. 50 in the world (Arthurs fininshed 2002 ranked 48) from No.
500 and that form counts. Karanusic had qualified by winning three matches;
Arthurs had lost in the first round in Sydney.
Arthurs reckons "the mental side" is what determines the
pecking order of the ATP jungle.
"I wouldn't call Lleyton the best striker of the ball
out there, but mentally, he's No. 1 by a long way. That's going to take him back
to inside the top five. You can't underestimate the power of the mind in this
game."
Agassi predicts Hewitt revival
By Linda Pearce
January 19, 2004
The Age
The man who has mastered climbing from the tennis abyss has endorsed Lleyton Hewitt's ambition to return to the top of the men's game. The Australian Open today launches the new grand slam year, in which Andre Agassi predicts a Hewitt revival, and a potential return to No. 1.
"Certainly he could be," said Agassi, whose personal nadir was reached late in 1997 through a brief return to the Challenger circuit. "I mean, if he thinks falling to 15 in the world is an accomplishment, he should have been around me a few years ago. I would have shown him what it really means to work hard and fall to 140 in the world.
"So things can change fast; it's not easy to be on top . . . Especially the way he plays the game, he works so hard in every match that it's easy to understand any sort of physical or mental struggle that could occur at any given time. But we've seen him rise above that many times. To finish No. 1 in the world two years in a row speaks to his capabilities."
Agassi, who tonight meets Australian wildcard Todd
Larkham in the first round, has completed a Hewitt-like preparation, the
defending champion's competition limited to the Tennis Masters Cup and several
exhibition events since early September. Like Hewitt, Agassi's emphasis has been
on preparing physically, and laying the conditioning foundations for the
demanding season ahead.
Indeed, former Davis Cup great John Alexander is among those who believes
Hewitt's football-style build-up under coach Roger Rasheed, coupled with two
inspiring Davis Cup performances and an unbeaten January so far, has enhanced
his chances of becoming the first local men's champion since Mark Edmondson in
1976.
"He's had great success in Davis Cup, he played well last week, played well at Hopman Cup, and I think this is the best chance he's had in his career to win the Australian Open," Alexander said.
Hewitt has never passed the fourth round at Melbourne Park. He practised yesterday with Todd Reid and plays his first match tomorrow against 195th-ranked Cecil Mamiit, Hewitt having learnt against Croatian Ivo Karlovic in the first round at Wimbledon last year just how dangerous qualifiers can be.
"There's no easy matches in grand slams. I know that as well as anyone," Hewitt said on Channel Seven. "You've got to give everybody respect when you're out there playing. Mamiit has been on the top 60, 70 in the world as well, so I've really just got to go out there and focus."
Hewitt has played only one Davis Cup and five ATP matches since October, but rose five rankings spots to No. 11 last week through a third Sydney International title aided by abbreviated matches against Martin Verkerk and Carlos Moya.
"I feel good," he said. "Obviously, I love coming to Rod Laver Arena, especially now that I've been able to have a couple of my most memorable matches and life experiences, I think, in the Davis Cup semi and final. It was an awesome finish to last year, and hopefully I can get better this year.
"I feel like (with) that whole build-up that Roger and I did leading into the Davis Cup finals to try and prepare myself that I'd be able to last the whole Australian summer as well, and, really, (build) a huge platform physically and mentally for the whole 2004 season. So far, so good."
While Hewitt, Mark Philippoussis and Wayne Arthurs do not play until tomorrow, 10 Australian men and women will be on court today, including Larkham, Chris Guccione and Fed Cup trio Alicia Molik, Nicole Pratt and Samantha Stosur. The 2003 finalist Rainer Schuettler opens the Rod Laver Arena program against Swede Robin Soderling.
A fresh start is key for Lleyton
By Margie McDonald
January 19, 2004
Herald Sun
THE sacrifices of last season are paying dividends for
Lleyton Hewitt as he aims to end his run of early outs at his home Grand Slam.
Yesterday, Hewitt spoke with conviction of his strategy not to play an ATP
tournament after the US Open, passing up the chance to qualify for the lucrative
$3.7million end-of-season Tennis Masters Cup to concentrate on the Davis Cup.
He spoke of how he and coach Roger Rasheed, who took over from Jason Stoltenberg in June last year, hatched a plan focusing on his match with Spain's Juan Carlos Ferrero in the Davis Cup final.
But Hewitt added that was only part of the plan. The rest of it was to be fresh and fit to tackle the Australian summer, particularly the Open where he has never been past the fourth round.
"I feel good at the moment," Hewitt said yesterday on the Seven Network.
"That whole build-up Roger and I did leading into the Davis Cup final (was) to try to prepare myself to last the whole Australian summer and really (give me) a huge platform physically and mentally for the whole 2004 season.
"So far so good. I got through my matches and won a tournament last week in different circumstances."
Hewitt was referring to Saturday's Adidas International final, where for the second match in a row his opponent retired hurt.
Carlos Moya rolled his right ankle with Hewitt up 4-3 in the first set. That was one less game than Hewitt needed against Martin Verkerk in the semi-final before the Dutchman retired feeling sick and dizzy.
Such a light finish to his Adidas campaign and the fact he has only played two Davis Cup ties and the Hopman Cup in four months have left Hewitt fresh and full of vigour.
That's unusual for Hewitt, who is embarking on his eighth Australian Open campaign. A bout of chicken pox two years ago resulted in a first-round loss when he was the No.1 seed.
"Playing with spots is difficult," Hewitt confessed yesterday.
"A couple of times when I've come here in the past, I've come here winning Adelaide and Sydney and maybe worn myself out a little bit.
"This year I do feel fresh. And I feel not playing at the end of the season last year may help me."
Hewitt also feels better prepared with Rasheed.
"Roger has done so much work on and off the court for me -- he's been incredible," Hewitt said. "We've worked extremely hard, not only technically and tactically on the court but also off the court.
"He's got degrees in physical education and fitness programs and he's been able to help me with that side. He's brought another dimension to the table to help me out.
"We copped a bit of flak at the start, I guess, but the thing with Roger is that not everyone sees the amount of work he puts in."
Hewitt starts his campaign tomorrow against American qualifier Cecil Mamiit.
Just when everyone thought there were no more records for Todd Woodbridge to break, he found one.
If you thought Woodbridge would wind up his career, which includes a record-breaking 79 doubles titles, 15 in Grand Slam tournaments, including eight at Wimbledon, think again.
Woodbridge, who with Jonas Bjorkman won the Adidas International title on Saturday, is now after John Newcombe's 17 Grand Slam doubles titles and has no thoughts of retiring.
"I enjoy winning," Woodbridge said. "I've got to tell you, that's the reason I stay out there - it's a bit of a drug, that feeling when you win."
Woodbridge and Bjorkman beat the top-seeded Bryan brothers, Bob and Mike, 7-6 (7-3) 7-5 in the final.
Hewitt faces reckoning in Melbourne
Former world number one must prove he has not lost it
Jon Henderson
Sunday January 18, 2004
The Observer
Lleyton Hewitt must now answer an important question himself. His girlfriend, the world number two, Kim Clijsters, answered one when Hewitt proposed just before Christmas; the poser for him is whether he can revive his career after a year in which he failed to win a grand slam and dropped from one to 17 in the world rankings.
One newspaper reported that the 22-year-old Hewitt was 'astride the Sydney Harbour Bridge' when he asked Clijsters to marry him, which suggested that he must have been on more than nandrolone during his extended break last autumn. In fact, as we saw in Perth and Sydney in the first two weeks of 2004, he remains one of the smaller players on the men's circuit and the nub of the question is whether his outsize competitive spirit and exceptional speed are still enough to make his unexceptional game a championship winner.
Clijsters answered her question without hesitation and in the affirmative, which Hewitt may find harder to do, although victory in the Australian Open would be a pretty convincing rejoinder that he is indeed playing as well as he has ever done.
The danger is that Hewitt has been sussed, that behind the huff, puff and demented breast-beating there is not an awful lot. 'He wins a lot of his matches on his speed and determination and guts,' says Pat Cash, the 1987 Wimbledon champion. 'Once someone gets used to your game, that's all you have to rely on, and when you're not on top of your own form you become an average player.'
Hewitt reached only one quarter-final in last year's four grand slams and suffered two particularly surprising defeats. At the French Open, he lost to Tommy Robredo after leading the young Spaniard 6-4 6-1 3-0 - the sort of lead he normally converts pitilessly into victory. At Wimbledon, where he began his defence of the title by taking the first set 6-1 against the 6ft 10in Croatian qualifier Ivo Karlovic, he contrived to lose the next three. By the end of both these defeats, his reputation for cussed invincibility looked as real as the emperor's new clothes.
John Alexander, who once played Davis Cup for Australia and is now a television commentator, gives an interesting version of what may have gone wrong with Hewitt. 'I liken Lleyton to a business that has become successful - businesses become successful by being risk takers and adventurers and then companies, once they get rich, protect what they have. And in tennis if you play conservatively all you're doing is giving everybody who is willing to be enterprising a chance to beat you.'
Hewitt may have reached the same conclusion during what was the one truly outstanding match he played last year, the Davis Cup singles on 21 September in which he beat the mightily talented Roger Federer, who succeeded him as Wimbledon champion. Hewitt trailed by two sets and 5-3 in the semi-final in Melbourne before blazing his way to a victory that won the tie and prompted his captain, John Fitzgerald, to say: 'What he did today I'll never forget for the rest of my life.' The key to that victory was his abruptly abandoning the comfort zone that Alexander identified, flattening out his forehand and playing the sort of go-for-broke tennis that won him the 2001 US Open and 2002 Wimbledon titles. He played only one more singles all year, beating Juan Carlos Ferrero - again in Melbourne, but this time on grass - to help Australia defeat Spain in the Davis Cup final.
Hewitt, not over-eager to play on the Association of Tennis Professionals' tour at a time when he is suing them over what he regards as an unfair fine for skipping a television interview, took the rest of the autumn off. He had a wart that had been troubling him for two years removed from the sole of his foot, then tried to bulk up so he could add a bit of biff to his serve and work on the flatter, more penetrative forehand that had so discomfited Federer. He also found time to wander around his swanky new home in Adelaide, which is touted as the most expensive and best-equipped in South Australia's capital - cinema inside, waterfalls outside.
Now comes the reckoning with the year's first grand slam at Melbourne Park and the men's game in a more competitive state than it has been for some time. Andy Roddick is the new world number one just ahead of Federer, Ferrero and the inexhaustible Andre Agassi, who is the champion in Melbourne. Federer and Ferrero, like Roddick, won their first grand slams in 2003. All three added the finishing touch of maturity to their games during the course of a year in which Hewitt was forced to question the suitability of his, with its emphasis on counter-punch rather than attack. Hewitt, seeded only 15, knows he must be more aggressive.
Clijsters' hopes of winning her first grand slam were sadly diminished when she aggravated an ankle injury in practice last week. It was the latest blow for the women's singles with former champions Jennifer Capriati and Mary Pierce and the reigning title-holder Serena Williams all ruled out by injury. Venus Williams will play, but it will be her first tournament since last year's Wimbledon, where she competed despite a stomach strain, and Lindsay Davenport is struggling to catch up after 2003 was dominated by her marriage and recovering from foot surgery.
It would be nice to think that France's Amélie Mauresmo would make something of the opportunity that this injury list offers, but she remains infuriatingly prone to imploding on the big occasion. The likelihood is that it will be the increasingly battle-hardened Belgian Justine Henin-Hardenne who picks up her third grand-slam crown since winning her first two in Paris and New York last year.
Tennis: it's in the blood
January 18, 2004
The Age
Australians play a lot of tennis but watch even more, says John Harms.
It's that time of year again. Tennis. Only it's not. Because the Australian Open has actually come a bit late this year and you have to ask yourself whether the whole rhythm of the year will be thrown out.
You'll probably forget to go to the footy until round five. By that stage, your team will be no chance at all. The Brisbane Lions will be a game and five-eighths clear with the first four-figure percentage in football since Grenville Dietrich got caught by the North Adelaide dietitian and was made to do a body fat test.
They've put it on late all right, the tennis. One of the finals is in February. But that's probably OK because it means most of us will be able to watch it at work. No decent boss will complain. Because tennis is a national institution. Like school milk. And nasho. We're a people with tennis in us (in January) in the same way that we've got motor racing in us (in October) and the spirit of international fraternity in us (once every four years, but only during the closing ceremony).
We know tennis. We grew up with tennis. We know the joys of a Bluebird or a Gonzales: one of those racquets with thick strings the wheaten colour of overcooked pasta that meow-ed when they snapped.
Ah, yes, we could play tennis. From the day the old man dropped the Oliver on the ground and said: "Pick it up. Now, just shake hands with it. That's your grip." And it was. For every shot. And whether we played on lawn or antbed or asphalt, the whole nation had that same forehand drive, that same chip backhand down the line as if the tennis ball was carried on a cushion of air like a coronation crown.
In fact, for a long time it was illegal to live in Australia if you didn't have a kick second-serve. Yes, we were one nation then. And we were a nation that came to the net.
We were dedicated. When we weren't good enough to hit a golf ball against a corrugated iron tank with a cricket stump, we weren't worried. We got just as excited by hitting a baldy old tennis ball against the shed. Hour after hour. And when we weren't that flash at that, we used the Oliver as a pretend guitar. Because we couldn't play one of those either. Even though we wanted to all through the '70s, when we secretly preferred John Paul Young to Ross Case.
And we started to mature and understand that it was actually watching tennis that was a national institution.
We watched the Australian Open, which was always on when you came back from the beach. All salty and sandy and sunburnt. And starving. And as you washed your feet under the tap, and wondered what you were going to do with your life, you'd remember, "The tennis is on". Which would give you a reason to live. And you'd have a salad sandwich on fresh white bread for lunch and a beer and a piece of watermelon and you'd look around to see if anyone was watching and when they weren't, you'd put the seeds in the gap between the couch cushions - because you were only renting. And you'd have another beer and when that didn't put you to sleep, you'd watch a bit of tennis and Johan Kriek would do the trick before he'd held serve.
And as time went by and they invented remote controls, you'd flick between the one-day cricket and the tennis and you'd have a January-long debate over which was worse and whether you'd spend the summer differently next year.
And you'd decide to. So you'd go on a golfing beach holiday and every day you'd play in 38-degree heat and lose the cash and at the end of it feel how you used to feel after a footy game: drained, but somehow satisfied, and ready for a beer. And you'd have a few. And you'd have a shower and a medium-rare rump at the pub with a quiet red and when you came back, you'd be knackered but you'd turn the telly on. And it was still the tennis, that unmistakable bop, shoe-screech, bop, shoe-screech, bop, applause. And you'd listen to the commentators and you'd ask yourself the same questions. Does Pete Sampras shave between his eyebrows? Before Todd Woodbridge got married, did he have a buck's night or a kitchen tea? Is tennis boring?
And then, one day, just as you're starting to think tennis is boring, you turn the tennis on because you're in the middle of your summer routine, and the crowd is frenzied. There are mid-point "Ooooohs" and wild, post-point applause and adulation. For both players. You watch for a while and suddenly it captures you because it has a peculiar quality. And you watch them slog it out, pulling out shots that they're not entitled to. Surviving when they're nearly dead. Because the scoring system (tennis's saving grace) does that. And you watch with total attention because this match has taken you to a place you rarely get to go. A place you like.
And you go to bed, summer-tired, and sleep the sleep of the half-sloshed, wishing you'd made more of your opportunities against the shed.
Hewitt fit to break 28yr drought
By Leo Schlink
January 19, 2004
The Wimbledon and US Open winner is brimming with confidence after stretching his unbeaten streak to 11 matches by winning the adidas International on Saturday when Carlos Moya withdrew with a serious ankle injury after only seven games.
The 22-year-old and Mark Philippoussis once again carry the hopes of ending a 28-year drought for Australian men at the Open.
It was 1976 when the last Aussie male won the event - Mark Edmondson beating John Newcombe.
Hewitt has rediscovered his best form after a troubled 12 months. Philippoussis finally realised his potential in the past year with his appearance in the Wimbledon final.
Hewitt tomorrow will play 195th-ranked American qualifier Cecil Mamitt, having never lost a set to the baseliner in two meetings.
Philippoussis will make his first appearance in a difficult opening match against Thomas Johannson tomorrow.
Unable to pass the Open's fourth round in seven attempts, Hewitt believes he may now have struck on the best Melbourne Park preparation with his unbowed winning sequence taking in the Hopman Cup and the adidas.
"It's been the ideal preparation for me so far," Hewitt said yesterday after practising on centre court with Sydney teenager Todd Reid.
"At the Hopman Cup, going out there and getting off to a good start, winning all three matches until Alicia [Molik] got hurt.
"Last week just felt like I built it up, got better and better, I knew it was going to be a tough match against Carlos.
"The seven games that we did get to play was a very high standard. It's left me in good preparation. I didn't waste too much energy, but I've got that confidence of coming through a few matches.
"I feel good. I love coming to Rod Laver Arena, especially now that I've been able to have some of my most memorable matches and life experiences in the Davis Cup semi and final.
"To beat a guy like Roger Federer in the situation I was in that match and to come back - he'd won Wimbledon - and fight it off after he'd served for the match in the third set. "Not only that, I took three months off to get ready for the Davis Cup final knowing that I was going to have to play Juan Carlos Ferrero.
"To come out and win that in five sets was an awesome finish to last year and hopefully it can be better this year."
The men's draw is an exciting one for Australia with youngsters Reid and Chris Guccione both having taken prized scalps in the past week at the adidas International.
At the other end of the scale is the defending men's champion Andre Agassi who continues to defy age (he turns 34 in April) while chasing his fifth Open title.
Hewitt, meanwhile, repeated his call for Australian supporters to turn out clad in green and gold in the hope local spectators can replicate the spirit of Davis Cup.
"It [crowd support] really just gives us an extra leg when you're out there because when you're down on the canvas, you've gotta get up," he said.
"When you've got the whole crowd lifting you up, there's no better feeling than that.
"It's more so here because you've got to come through and win seven best-of-five matches. In Davis Cup, maybe it's only two best-of-five matches, so it's a huge thing."
Beaten last season by inspired Moroccan Younes el
Aynaoui, Hewitt lost the previous year to Spaniard Alberto Martin when he was
afflicted by chicken pox.
The Daily Telegraph
thanks Karen