Lleyton, Scud in double figures

By LEO SCHLINK
16jan04

MARK Philippoussis and Lleyton Hewitt will carry double-figure seedings into the Australian Open on Monday.

US Open and Wimbledon finalist Philippoussis is the 10th seed, while Wimbledon and US Open champion Hewitt is 15th – reflecting their ranking order among the available players.
World champions and No. 1s Andy Roddick and Justine Henin-Hardenne head the men's and women's singles list.

Dual US Open and Wimbledon champion Venus Williams has been promoted to No. 3 seed despite a ranking of 11th in the world. Williams has been ravaged by stomach, leg and arm injuries over the past year. No Australian woman has been seeded.

Defending champion Andre Agassi is fourth in the order as he aims to land a record fifth title at Melbourne Park after winning the event in 1995, 2000, '01 and '03.

Wimbledon champion Roger Federer is second behind Roddick and will bid to secure his first Australian title after winning seven titles last season. French Open winner Juan Carlos Ferrero, winless in seven successive outings, is the No. 3 seed.

Hewitt is yet to pass the fourth round in seven attempts and was seeded No. 1 at the past two Opens, losing in the round of 16 last season to Moroccan Younes el Aynaoui and succumbing to illness and Spaniard Alberto Martin the previous year. Philippoussis has contested the event eight times, reaching the fourth round on three occasions.

Henin-Hardenne will seek her first Open trophy, while fellow Belgian Kim Clijsters is seeded second, but remains in doubt with a bruised bone in her left foot.

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Hewitt Carries Hopes of Local Australian Open Fans
Tue January 13, 2004 08:14 PM ET

By Paul Tait
SYDNEY (Reuters) - Whether as a cartoon superhero or a fist-pumping baseline battler, Lleyton Hewitt could never be accused of lacking the heart for a fight.

Local tennis fans hope the tenacious Hewitt is at his combative best when he carries their hopes into the Australian Open at Melbourne Park from Monday.

Former world number one, Davis Cup hero, Wimbledon and U.S. Open champion -- Hewitt has given his legion of admirers plenty to savor over the past couple of years.

All, that is, except for a grand slam title on home soil. Australian fans have become accustomed to tennis success but strangely have been waiting for more than a quarter of a century to celebrate a local champion at the Open.

Australia has been without a home-grown men's champion since big Mark Edmondson upset compatriot John Newcombe in 1976.

Davis Cup team mates past and present like Pat Rafter and Mark Philippoussis have all been unable to live up to the weight of local expectations but Hewitt, typically, appears to thrive on the pressure rather than shrink from it.

"There's always pressure and expectation coming into the national title when, realistically we've probably only got two main guy who are contenders, Flip (Philippoussis) and myself," Hewitt said.

"I love playing in Melbourne. I love that arena and it's one of my favorite tournaments of the year...there's a big buzz leading into the tournament," the 22-year-old said.

HOPES HEIGHTENED

Hewitt's results in Melbourne have been mixed. He has never made it past the fourth round and crashed out in the first round in 2002 after a bout of chickenpox.

Local hopes have been heightened even further by Australia's stirring Davis Cup success last year.

Despite a relatively disappointing year on the men's tour, Hewitt scored important Davis Cup wins over Switzerland's Roger Federer in the September semi-final and then over Juan Carlos Ferrero when Australia thumped Spain 3-1 in the November final.

Those performances have raised local hopes even further and it is a burden Hewitt appears happy to bear, just as he was when he was the top seed in Melbourne the previous two years.

"It's great for tennis that I think the emotion is still there from the Davis Cup victories the last few times," he said in Sydney this week.

"That probably puts the same pressure on as being the number one seed the past two years," Hewitt said. "So I think tennis is on a bit of a high at the moment and I think they would like to see an Australian winner."

MUSCULAR SUPERHERO

There is no doubt what Open organizers see as their best way to sell the January 19-February 1 tournament to local fans.

Hewitt is portrayed on promotional material as a muscular superhero standing defiantly ahead of defending champion and four-time winner Andre Agassi.

The aggressive Adelaide tyro has packed more muscle on to his lean frame since tumbling from the number one spot last year but still has a long way to go to live up to his cartoon alter-ego.

Hewitt has gained "maybe four" kilograms (8.8 pounds) in weight over the past few months. The extra muscle will hopefully guide him past the power of world number one Andy Roddick, sublime touch of Federer and Agassi's all-round brilliance -- if he can safely negotiate his way through the early stages after being seeded 16th.

"I know how well I can play when I want to," Hewitt said during a warm-up tournament in Perth.

"And I have been training hard."

Recent history offers mixed signals.

Davis Cup success aside, Hewitt is now ranked 15th in the world and has been without a grand slam title since Wimbledon in 2002.

Hewitt's plan to peak in Melbourne

By LEO SCHLINK in Melbourne
01jan04

LLEYTON Hewitt will attempt a high-stakes juggling act over the next two weeks as he seeks to reproduce the form which carried him to Davis Cup glory, while bidding to peak precisely for the Australian Open.

Hewitt and his coach Roger Rasheed have methodically worked to an end-of-season training regime designed to generate match wins at the Hopman Cup from Sunday and then at the adidas International in Sydney, where the South Australian has previously excelled.
But while Hewitt is typically intent on achievement in Perth and at Homebush Bay, it is the lure of Rod Laver Arena success which drives the dual Grand Slam champion hardest.

"We want Lleyton to be playing well over the next two weeks at the Hopman Cup and in Sydney, where he's going to try for a third adidas title," Rasheed said. "But, while we want him to be playing well, we want his absolute best tennis, and for him to peak, at the Australian Open.

"The Hopman Cup, in many ways, is the perfect preparation for him.

"It's an event where you can test your skills against high-class opposition in competition in front of a supportive home crowd.

"It's not a tour event and it's not a Grand Slam, so while there's pressure, he can feed off the crowd a bit and get a lift there.

"And, after discussing what we think is the best way for Lleyton to be going into the Australian Open, we think the adidas is the way to go.

"If he happened to come out of Sydney with a third title there, that would be great preparation for the Open."

Rasheed has presided over a watershed change in the game Hewitt produced with chilling consistency to win Wimbledon, the US Open and two Tennis Masters Cups under Darren Cahill and Jason Stoltenberg.

While Rasheed and Hewitt have yet to team for a singles title, the partnership last month was instrumental in Australia's Davis Cup final success – an event which also signalled to the international tennis community the South Australian baseliner is back to his extraordinary best.

"I think we can expect to see more of that style of tennis," Rasheed said of Hewitt's new-found aggression.

"There's no reason to want to change what we all saw against Roger Federer in the Davis Cup semi-finals and then against Juan Carlos Ferrero in the final. The goal now is to peak at Melbourne Park."

Hewitt, 22, is yet to better the fourth round of the Australian Open in six attempts.

Strangely, Hewitt's record at his home Grand Slam is his worst of the Big Four.

He has won both Wimbledon and the US Open, where he has also reached the semi-finals on two other occasions, and has made the quarter-finals of the French Open.

Hewitt is desperate to become the first Australian male to win in Melbourne since Mark Edmondson in 1976 but will do so without the arguable protection of a high seeding.

The right-hander was eliminated last season by Moroccan Younes el Aynaoui. His preparation the previous year was blighted by having chicken pox and he was eliminated in the first round.

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