page 2
TENNIS SUPERSTARS
by: Ashley Browne
Sportal
It is official. The Australian Open has now become a pop concert.
There was no more ample proof than today at Melbourne Park when a scuffle
broke out at in the stands above court one between various pubescent boys
over Anna Kournikova's towel.
That's right. When the most popular tennis player never to have won a
tournament threw her towel into the crowd it created the sort of frenzy
usually only found minutes before the start of one of those door-busting,
post-Christmas sales.
The kid in the white sponsored by Parmalat shirt (it might have been a
Carlton Soccer Club shirt and therefore itself a collector's item)
eventually claimed the towel but not after an extended tug-of-war with the
guys with green and gold hair and chests, and another kid, who, was wearing
a Detroit Red Wings ice hockey jersey carrying the name of Sergei Fedorov,
Kournikova's long-time close friend.
Kournikova creates that sort of frenzy and not many other athletes do.
Certainly, tennis and pop stardom go hand in hand and not many other sports
can claim to have that sort of maniacal following. Swimming does to a large
degree, fanned by the Ian Thorpe-mania, while the Essendon Football Club
also creates teenage frenzy thanks to the presence of the Spice Boys ?
James Hird, Matty Lloyd plus countless other teammates.
Golf has Aaron Baddeley but the the preppy, country-club image of the sport
still prevails. Surfers are known only to their little clique of supporters
while iron-men are all but unknown south of Bondi Beach.
So we're stuck with tennis and the fortnight of the year in which it
pervades the national consciousness the stars dominate our screens,
airwaves and headlines. Venus Williams with a slit half-way across her
breasts and talk-back radio and the letters columns are full of opinions
for and against.
Of course, the daddy of them all has been Lleyton Hewitt and the national
debate about whether his on-court demeanour is appropriate.
Hewitt polarises people. Those who don't approve tend to be older, more
conservative and probably still outraged that players now wear shorts and
that the Open was ever moved from Kooyong. They don't like the fist-pumping
and the continual references to `Rocky' movies. Presumably, they would
prefer he refer to `Chariots of Fire' and call himself `Eric' or `Harold'.
No, Hewitt is very '00ish, or whatever this decade will come to be known.
With the big backwards-facing cap, the pony-tail and the generally loud
appearance, Hewitt is the quintessential MTV-generation athlete. They don't
make tennis players like Ken Rosewall any more.
And that's what Hewitt's critics forget. He wins. He wins when he's
supposed to and as Tuesday night against Jonas Bjorkman suggests, he wins
when he's not supposed to.
Tennis has changed. Sport has changed and Hewitt is an invention of his
time. And unlike Jelena Dokic, he's not going anywhere.
Just like pop music. Those who don't like it just have to deal with it.
Hewitt the ace rebounder
AUSTRALIAN OPEN
By LINDA PEARCE
Friday 19 January 2001
A funny thing happened to Lleyton Hewitt on his way to the third round of the
Australian Open: he lost the first five games, and four of the first five in the
second set, was also down a break in the third, and yet won in straight sets
against Tommy Haas.
That's Hewitt for you. Down, but so rarely out. "Mentally, he is a really
great champion," said his next opponent, former French Open champion Carlos
Moya. "But his game is limited. He hasn't the talent of (Marat) Safin,
neither the Guga (Kuerten) serve."
What Hewitt has, says Moya, is "the capacity to suffer", to play
through difficulties and daunting challenges and somehow emerge intact.
Yesterday, the 19-year-old entered the match with a hamstring strain that he
said reduced his capacity by five to 10 per cent, against a brilliant
ball-striker who battered him for much of the match. But the mind game was no
contest.
"I just about felt like I was going to lose it," said Hewitt after his
7-5, 7-6 (7-5), 6-4 win, and then conceded tournament favoritism to the six
former grand slam champions in the field. "I was playing catch-up tennis
the whole day. To my credit, I just kept hanging in there, kept fighting, got
the breaks when I needed to and played the big points well."
Haas played in a plain collarless T-shirt, and his game plan appeared just as
simple: bludgeon, on serve and off the ground. It worked spectacularly for a
time, until the lead had stretched to 5-0 in what for Haas were 16 almost
flawless minutes and, for Hewitt, represented a face-slapping sequel to his
five-set struggle against Jonas Bjorkman less than two days earlier.
Indeed, the Australian, whose on-court demeanor continues to cause such
diversity of opinion, was unusually subdued. It took 11 games for the first
major "C'mon" and accompanying fist-pump. Perhaps the criticism -
which he maintains publicly does not bother him - has started to bite, or maybe
he was just feeling his way into what was always going to be a difficult match.
Still, shades of the old Hewitt emerged soon enough. He scrapped, persisted,
pumped, bellowed, urged himself on. From 0-5, he won the next seven games. From
0-3 in the second, he won six of the next nine and a tiebreak that hinged on a
dreadful attempted drop volley from Haas and was clinched with a fine backhand
topspin lob. From 2-4 in the third, he won 6-4.
The match's almost three-hour duration stretched to almost seven his on-court
hours in the past three days, while Moya has been untroubled by either Marcelo
Rios or Marc Rosset. Then again, Hewitt's matches are rarely brief because,
although he may not win too many points easily - although his improved serve,
responsible for 17 aces, is helping immensely - nor does he easily concede them.
If Hewitt's home-crowd support was overwhelming, and he considers it an enormous
advantage on what is also his favorite surface, then Haas also had his share of
fans yesterday, many of them teenage girls.
By this was not a muscle contest: it was won in the head. Haas led by at least
one break of serve in each set but claimed none. This was not a loss that the
German, and his Australian coach Gavin Hopper, will swallow easily. "Just
dumb play, stupid," he berated himself at the end of the first set.
"Never in my dreams would I have thought I would have lost that set. It's
tough to explain."
Next for Hewitt is Moya, a third opponent of quality who will stretch the
seventh seed to his limits - again. "The draw doesn't get any easier,
that's for sure," Hewitt said of the prospect of meeting the Spaniard who
was a finalist here in 1997, but lost his top-25 position due to a back injury
that crippled him in 2000.
"It will be interesting and pretty exciting because he's a great player,
he's playing very well," said Moya. "First round was very tough for
him, and I'm very confident. I think if I'm playing the same level I am playing
right now, I am able to beat him."
Hewitt warned over gestures
By NICK PAPPS
19jan01
LLEYTON Hewitt risks being bashed in the locker room over his on-court antics.
Andre Agassi's coach, Brad Gilbert, issued the warning to Hewitt minutes after
the Aussie stormed to another great win at the Australian Open.
Gilbert, a former tennis hard man, said Hewitt's punching the air might lead to
him being attacked.
"At some point I would be amazed if someone didn't whack him in the locker
room," Gilbert told 3AW yesterday.
"If I was on the other end of it, I would have snapped by now."
Gilbert, who was involved in an on-court
scuffle with Dave Wheaton in 1990, said he was amazed Hewitt could keep punching
the air through five sets and not burn himself out.
Hewitt's behavior was criticised by his opponent, Swede Jonas Bjorkman, after
their match this week. But Hewitt last night said: "I think the fans know
what's going on and, you know, I know what's going on and that's all that
matters."
He said of yesterday's match against Germany's Tommy Haas, when he was down five
games to love: "I knew that if I could get things going, the crowd was
going to hop on as soon as I got it going."
Hewitt again thrilled another packed Rod Laver Arena yesterday, beating Haas in
straight sets in 3 1/2 hours to set up a showdown with Spain's Carlos Moya.
Aussies have love-hate relationship with Hewitt
Thursday January 18, 2001 10:33 AM
By Jon Wertheim, Sports Illustrated
MELBOURNE, Australia -- I was barely in Australia for 10 minutes when I
was asked to choose sides in the current most divisive national issue. It had
nothing to do with Aboriginal rights, free trade or whether Vegemite is an
acquired taste or the nastiest food this side of head cheese. No, the cab meter
hadn't even turned over when the driver turned around and asked earnestly:
"So you're here for the tennis: What do you think out our Lleyton Hewitt?
"
Not unlike being pregnant, there's no middle ground with respect to Hewitt. You
either love his fighting spirit, his fist-pumping intensity and his
demonstrative passion, or you despise the whole shtick with every fiber of your
being. Australians want to like Hewitt. Really, they do. They're even willing to
overlook the time he called sports fans in this country "idiots." With
Pat Rafter pondering retirement and Davis Cup truant Mark Philippoussis reliably
unreliable, Hewitt is the country's next great hope. Still a month shy of 20, he
has already helped Australia to a Davis Cup title, he has reached a Grand Slam
semifinal and he is a fixture in the top 10. Really, they want to like him.
But his whole persona is so quintessentially anti-Australian, it's hard to
countenance. Picture Crocodile Dundee going clubbing. Or try to imagine Rod
Laver or Roy Emerson pounding his chest after hitting a routine winner or
yelling, "Come On, Rock!" -- the nickname Hewitt, a self-proclaimed
Sylvester Stallone buff, bestowed on himself -- when his opponent double-faults.
Last year at Wimbledon Rafter, a dyed-in-the-sheep's-wool Aussie if ever there
was one, remarked that Down Under "you're either laid back or you're
considered a d---head." No one has ever accused Hewitt of being laid back.
The best and worst of Hewitt were on display in Rod Laver Arena Thursday
afternoon here when the seventh seed took on Tommy Haas in a riveting
second-round match. After falling into an 0-5 hole after 18 minutes, Hewitt
looked more like Frank Stallone than Sly. Retreating to his corner with his head
hung low, he metamorphosed into a champ. Unleashing penetrating strokes,
retrieving balls with feline quickness and winning every big point, he ran off
seven straight games to take the first set.
After falling behind a break in the second set, he again dug deep. Hewitt broke
back and forced a tiebreaker, all the while fist-pumping like a young Jimmy
Connors, beating his heart like a mourner and swaggering like he owned the
arena. In the 'breaker, Haas missed an easy volley and then double-faulted. Up
set point, Hewitt hit a cold-blooded, top-spin lob over the German's head.
Before the ball alighted within a foot of the baseline, the Australian was
already midway through a self-congratulatory ritual. Watching Hewitt's extended
end-zone dance, Harold Solomon, the understated former pro, echoed the
sentiments of a nation: "You either love him or hate him."
On reflection, perhaps, this alone is reason enough to like the guy: On a day
when Gustavo Kuerten became just the fourth top-seeded player to fall before the
third round, on a day when fifth-seeded Yevgeny Kafelnikov bitched about not
making enough money, Hewitt's fire was thrown into particularly sharp relief. If
Born to Be Mild is the current anthem of the ATP, there is something refreshing
about a player who competes with -- and arouses -- as much passion as Hewitt. In
the end, we'll take that over the blithe insouciance of many of his colleagues.
Even if Hewitt's antics are sometimes less reminiscent of Rocky than they are of
Over the Top.
Short volleys
Despite the hype generated by Hewitt, it wasn't a banner week for Australian
tennis. First, Rafter intimated that this might be his last year on tour. Then
Jelena Dokic announced she would play as a Yugoslav. The country's other young
female hope, Alicia Molik, lost her first match 6-0, 6-0. The most recent
setback came when veteran Jason Stoltenberg fell to Augustin Calleri and
announced he was considering hanging it up as well. ... Oracene Williams was so
riveted by daughter Venus' second-round dustup with Meghann Shaughnessy that she
was spotted sleeping during the match. ... From the Bad Luck Dept.: Defending
women's doubles champs Lisa Raymond and Rennae Stubbs had the misfortune of
drawing Martina Hingis and Monica Seles in the first round. Hingis and Seles won
in straight sets. ... Gossip note: Roger Federer, a potential top-10 player by
year's end, is dating fellow Swiss Miroslava Vavrinec. Federer advanced with a
solid win over Nicolas Escude. ... No joke: There is a 15-year-old ballboy here
named Cosmo Kramer. No word on whether he'll be allowed to work Seles' matches.
Hewitt does it
Houdini-style
Thursday, 18 January, 2001
Nyree Epplett (AUS Open Site)
Young Aussie upstart Lleyton Hewitt is fast gaining a reputation as the
Houdini of men's professional tennis.
And with good reason. For the second consecutive match this tournament,
Hewitt snatched victory from the jaws of defeat, advancing to the third round
of the Australian Open with a slippery victory on Rod Laver Arena late
Thursday afternoon.
The No.7 seed survived the onslaught of the dangerous German Tommy Haas 7-5
7-6[5] 6-4, magically converting 0-5 and 1-4 deficits in the first and second
sets into gutsy triumphs.
The extraordinary three-hour win was not dissimilar to his first round win
over the classy Swede Jonas Bjorkman on Tuesday night - the Aussie escaping
intact after suffering with a hamstring strain and trailing two sets to one.
"Hopefully the matches will get a little bit easier somewhere along the
line," said Hewitt, who shrugged of the injury to become one of four
Australian males to progress to the third round.
"I didn't come out there with all guns firing. He was blasting me off the
court at the start. I couldn't get any rhythm. I could have easily lost three
sets to love today."
The top-ranked Aussie reeled off seven straight games to take the first set,
tormenting the tall German with his tenacity and a large dose of in-your-face
fist-pumping energy.
"I knew if I could get things going then the crowd would hop on top. It's a
huge lift for the Aussies to have that.
"It's very easy to work the crowd as well. Words cannot describe what an
advantage it is to have 15,000 people screaming for you."
True to form, Hewitt , who has been known to watch 'Rocky' movies before his
matches, drew on the intensity of the record Melbourne Park crowd Thursday
afternoon, pounding down 17 aces and 36 winners.
For the dispirited Haas, it was a match of missed opportunities - the
No.2-ranked German twice served for the first set and converted only four out
of 18 break points.
Forced into a defensive mode, Haas committed 67 unforced errors and a spate
of disheartening double faults.
At one point in the second set, the heartbroken Haas lay face down in a heap
on the court, after unsuccessfully diving for a volley.
"Once I started getting some confidence I was better. He had a few
concentration lapses," said Hewitt, who agreed that the match was arguably
the hardest three-setter he's ever played.
"It was definitely a little bit more draining than your normal three set
match," said Hewitt, the winner in Sydney last week who has now won seven
singles matches on the trot.
Thursday's sweet victory was a satisfying one for the 19-year-old South
Australian who had been beaten by Haas in the last encounter just two weeks
ago in his hometown of Adelaide.
"I can draw a lot from the fact that I've beaten two very good players in
the
first two rounds," said Hewitt, who has faced a considerable amount of
criticism this week for his brash [and sometimes off-putting] on-court
behaviour.
"I only do it at times that I feel it's necessary, when I need to get a
lift
out there. Noone's really had a go at me for it."
Hewitt will face 1997 Australian Open finalist Carlos Moya in the third round.
In other second round men's action, No.4 seed Magnus Norman ousted Frenchman
Fabrice Santoro in straight sets 7-6[6] 6-3 6-0. Norman is on track for a
quarterfinal encounter against Hewitt.
"If I can get my game going I'll be there in the second week. Then you
never
know what's going to happen," said the modest Swede.
END--www.ausopen.org/news/
Tennis-Hewitt survives to reach third round
By Stephen Wood
MELBOURNE, Jan 18 (Reuters)(DS) - Marathon man Lleyton Hewitt insisted he was
ready for more torture in his bid for a first grand slam title after escaping
the clutches of German Tommy Haas at the Australian Open on Thursday.
Australian Hewitt, who overcame a hamstring injury to score a five-set
victory over Jonas Bjorkman in the first round on Tuesday, retrieved a 0-5
first set deficit against Haas to reach the third round with a 7-5 7-6 6-4
victory.
The epic match took three hours and three minutes and, added to his gruelling
Bjorkman triumph, means the seventh seed has been on court for six hours 45
minutes in just two rounds.
"I feel surprisingly good, and the hamstring is getting stronger by the
day"
said Hewitt, who is also playing in the mixed doubles with his Belgian
girlfriend Kim Clijsters.
"I came here prepared to play seven, best-of-five singles matches to win
this
title, and also the mixed doubles.
"I'll do whatever it takes. I want to experience that feeling of walking
out
to play on the second Sunday of a grand slam."
STRUGGLE
Hewitt is certainly going about it the hard way. Just watching the young
Australian, with his catalogue of fist-clenching and heart-pumping antics on
court, is a draining experience.
Even he was forced to admit that his win over Haas was an intense struggle.
"That was probably the toughest three-set match I've ever played," he
said.
"I could just have easily lost it three sets to love instead."
Haas, the world number 23, was kicking himself after throwing away the chance
to beat Hewitt for the second time in a month.
The German had prevailed in their match at the Australian hardcourt
championships in Adelaide, and when he raced into a 5-0 lead after 15
minutes, the writing was on the wall again.
Haas moved into a 4-1 lead in the second set before the pressure of seizing
the moment in front of 14,000 hardcore Hewitt fans on the Rod Laver Arena
court made him disintegrate.
The 22-year-old held three set points in the first set and two in the second
-- but wasted them all.
Worse was to come, for Haas contrived to pass up 14 of the 18 break points he
carved out during the contest.
SAD
"I feel sad," said Haas.
"Perhaps I think too much about the game and the situations I am in when I
am
on court.
"I don't want to go through that again. You are left wondering how you let
it
all happen."
Haas could not find a way to shake off Hewitt.
And with the Australian serving at 5-6 and deuce in the second set, Haas was
literally left down and out.
A brilliant rally climaxed with Haas lying face down on the Rebound Ace court
for what seemed an eternity after seeing two of his spectacular diving
volleys retrieved with interest by Hewitt.
The effort brought further histrionics from Hewitt and even greater delight
from the spectators.
"Words can't describe how much the support means to me out there,"
said
Hewitt.
"I don't see too many fans complaining at my behaviour on court. I admit it
is an advantage to have home support, and hopefully we can keep this
going."
Hewitt faces Carlos Moya in the third round, the Spaniard and 1997 Australian
Open runner-up who has dropped just 14 games in the first two rounds this
year.
"It sounds like it wil be another tough, long battle," said Hewitt.
"But the way I am playing, he is going to have to play well to beat
me."
Despite the fighting talk, Hewitt is eager to deflect as much attention away
from himself as possible.
"I don't think the fans expect me to win the title just yet.
"I am certainly not putting any extra pressure on myself. I am not the
favourite to win here - you have to look first at the guys who have been in a
grand slam title before."
END--http://www.dailysoccer.com/news/text/tennis/20010118/mdf26020.html
- - -
Fighting Hewitt does it the hard way
By SCOTT SPITS
Fairfax Online
at Melbourne Park
Lleyton Hewitt has advanced to the third round of
the Australian Open
with a straight sets win over German Tommy Haas
on Rod Laver Arena
this afternoon but the manner of his victory was
far from easy.
Displaying the fighting characteristics that
drove him to victory in
a five-set fight against Swede Johas Bjorkman on
Tuesday night,
Hewitt came from behind in all three sets before
prevailing 7-5 7-6
6-4 - much to the delight of the Australian fans.
Hewitt was down 5-0 in the first set and 3-0 in
the second before
both times digging deep to overcome his
relentless German opponent.
In other men's singles second round matches,
Magnus Norman had a
straight sets win over Frenchman Fabrice Santoro
in their clash at
Vodafone Arena.
Earlier, fifth seed Yevgeny Kafelnikov took five
sets to dispose of
German Nicholas Kiefer in a match that lived up
to expectations that
it would test the tough Russian.
- - -
Hewitt's not that bad
By MIKE HEDGE
MELBOURNE, Jan 18
Jimmy Connors had a view on the emotional side of
tennis that Lleyton
Hewitt would relate to.
``They want you to spill your guts on the
court,'' said Jimbo, ``then
they want you to go out and clean it up
afterwards.''
In the couple of days since a capacity centre
court crowd stood and
roared its approval for Hewitt when he beat Jonas
Bjorkman at the
Australian Open, he has been taken to task for
being too far over the
top.
The criticism of Hewitt has gone so far as to
compare him with John
McEnroe, the greatest brat any sport has
produced.
Comparisons between Hewitt and McEnroe are so
wide of the mark they
are virtually irrelevant.
The intensity level of the two players may be
similar, but any
suggestion that Hewitt is as abrasive, erratic,
vindictive or as
vulgar as McEnroe can only come from people with
short memories or
those who never witnessed the ``Superbrat'' at
his peak.
Hewitt is as intense as any player in the game,
he is vocal,
emotional and, at times, undisciplined.
McEnroe was all of those things. He was also
crude, demeaning and
made his attacks on officials, ball boys and the
crowd personal to
the point of being threatening.
So ugly did ``junior'' become at the 1990
Australian Open, he was
chucked out of the tournament.
Another distinction between the two players is
that Hewitt is genuine
and spontaneous in his on court behaviour.
McEnroe's performances were often contrived.
He admitted several times he had to explode
before he could play his
best tennis.
When he was defaulted at the Open it was as much
because he
misunderstood the rules as anything else.
Until that tournament, the ATP rules were ``four
strikes and you're
out''. Just before the tournament, the rules were
changed to ``three
strikes'' and McEnroe only got tossed out because
he thought he still
had one more chance.
Hewitt's on-court behaviour has also been
highlighted by a comparison
with fellow Australian Andrew Ilie.
Therein lies another example of selective memory.
A few years ago Ilie, the new folksy hero of
Australian tennis was
doing-a-Dokic and had begun training with the
Romanian Davis Cup
squad with a view to playing for his native
country.
These days his shirt-ripping showmanship is
applauded as the way
things should be done: ``If you want to see a
true, well-behaved
patriot, just look at Andrew Ilie''.
Maybe, but Ilie is no better or no worse than
Hewitt in what he does
on the court, during or after a match.
It has also been suggested that Hewitt's
behaviour is only a drop
shot away from cheating; gamesmanship at its
worst.
Not according to his opponents.
Carlos Moya, a finalist here a couple of years
ago and a player of
the same generation as the Australian, said he
had no problem with
Hewitt.
Moya, who is seeded to play Hewitt in the third
round if they get
that far, said today the screaming and fist
pumping or anything else
concerned him not at all.
``I don't think he does it to bother his
opponent,'' Moya said.
``He's not a fake at all, he's doing it for
himself.''
While Hewitt might dispute more calls than he
ought to, he doesn't
belittle the line judge, as McEnroe was prone to
do.
And the main thrust of his exuberant urgings is
aimed at himself or
at his coach and family in the stand, a kind of
energy transfer
between player and mentor.
Criticism of Hewitt's behaviour also amounts to a
major turnaround on
popular tennis thinking of a couple of years ago
when the widely held
belief was that things had become too bland.
As a result, the ATP and ITF changed the rules,
deleting
``three-strikes-and-you're-out'' and replacing it
with a system
whereby players can no longer be defaulted.
Instead they receive a warning, then they have a
point deducted, then
a game and then another game, and so on.
Lleyton Hewitt may not be everyone's idea of a
nice Australian tennis
player.
But he's a winner.
And he's nowhere near as infuriating as world
No.1 Gustavo Kuerten
who groans with sexual intensity on every shot.
Or Monica Seles who did provoke complaints from
her fellow players
because of her grunting.
At one stage it got so bad they installed the
grunt meter at
Wimbledon in an attempt to curb the annoying
Seles.
- AAP
Taking the strain for the slam
After playing much of five sets with a hamstring
injury, practice was
the last thing Lleyton Hewitt needed yesterday,
writes Linda Pearce
in Melbourne.
Perhaps the best indication of Lleyton Hewitt's
condition after five
sets against Jonas Bjorkman was that when he
returned to the
locker-room in what had become the early hours of
the next day, the
first call he made was to an elderly therapist
back home in Adelaide.
Bill Hatchardt, a manipulative muscle therapist
who has treated
Hewitt for assorted minor problems in the past,
received that call
from the seventh seed yesterday morning and
agreed to catch an early
flight to Melbourne to help prepare the injured
teenager for his
second-round match today against Tommy Haas at
the Australian Open.
Hewitt cancelled his planned afternoon practice
session in favour of
intensive treatment on the right hamstring he
injured during a hit at
Melbourne Park on Sunday and twinged again during
his five-set epic
against Bjorkman, a win he rated behind only his
victory over Albert
Costa in the Davis Cup final last month as the
most significant of
his career.
"It doesn't look like it is a tear, it might
just be a strain," said
Davis Cup chiropractor Andreas Bisaz, who tended
to Hewitt after his
victory. "It might be a little bit
uncomfortable, but it shouldn't
bother him like it did in the last match. If it
bothers him it will
[affect his chances], but hopefully not."
As controversy continued over Hewitt's on-court
behaviour, his
Australian manager, John McCurdy of Octagon, said
the US Open
semi-finalist was confident of being in close to
peak condition
against Haas, the German who beat him here in
1998 and again two
weeks ago at the Australian hardcourt
championship in Adelaide.
"He's hoping to be 90 to 100per cent for
tomorrow's match, but I
guess we won't know until tomorrow," McCurdy
said. "He's pulled up a
little bit sore today, and obviously it affected
him a bit last
night, but he still managed to get through."
After the match Hewitt said there was no chance
he would withdraw
from the tournament. "Davis Cup and grand
slams, that's what you live
for as a tennis player. For me, playing in
Australia it's my
favourite tournament of the year and I'm going to
go out there and
try and give it everything I've got."
Bjorkman yesterday criticised Hewitt's "in
your face" behaviour that
included dissenting line calls and incessant
cries of "C'mon", even
after his opponent's mistakes. "It might be
a little bit too much,"
Bjorkman said, urging Hewitt to model himself
more closely on his
friend Pat Rafter.
Rafter responded: "I think Lleyton's always
going to have that
problem that people don't like what he does - and
I can see their
side of it as well.
"Listen, Lleyton's in my corner, I guess, so
it's sort of hard for me
to say anything. All I know is that I operate
differently. And
Lleyton's got to do what works for him. If he
knows it's going to
work for him, then he will do it. Regardless of
what anyone thinks or
says about him, he will just do what he has to do
to win."
Hewitt had to do plenty to win his first-round
match on
Tuesday-Wednesday. There are two theories about
what the combined
effect of that marathon and the slight hamstring
strain will mean in
immediate Australian Open terms, and the prospect
that it may break
Hewitt appears to have as much validity as Davis
Cup coach Wally
Masur's theory that it will make him.
"Hopefully [the hamstring injury] settles
down," Masur said
yesterday, "because usually players like
Lleyton, once they get
through a tough match like that, they really
start to get on a roll."
Yet Hewitt was going nowhere fast yesterday, at
least not to the
practice court booked for his use at 2pm, and
where a crowd and TV
cameras had gathered, only for Bjorkman and
doubles partner Todd
Woodbridge to start hitting up instead.
After a sleep-in at his hotel, Hewitt was limited
to a day of
treatment and cheerleading duties for Belgian
girlfriend Kim
Clijsters. The rest should not harm him, as it
was almost 1.30am by
the time Hewitt left the Melbourne Park media
bunker, an hour after
his 3hr 42min match had ended.
By then Haas would have been well tucked up. He
had dropped just five
games in three sets against Nicolas Massu earlier
in the day; also
leaving the athletic German plenty of time to put
his feet up and
admire the trophy he won 10 days ago at Memorial
Drive, having dumped
the local wonderboy along the way.
An underprepared wonderboy, to be fair, for
Hewitt had elected to
rest over Christmas rather than practise after a
demanding year, and
gave himself no chance of defending his hometown
title. He believes
pre-match favouritism will be shared this time,
despite Haas's 2-1
lead in their career contests, all on hardcourts,
the first at
Melbourne Park in 1998.
Hewitt said of Haas: "He's going to be in
the top 10 very shortly.
You know, I think he's a hell of a player."
Just as Hewitt, whatever his behavioural lapses,
is a hell of a
competitor. Only this afternoon on the Rod Laver
Arena will we know
whether arguably Australia's most talked-about
teenager has the
necessary fitness to complement the fight he
undoubtedly possesses.
If not, the only post-match call he may be making
is to book a group
flight home, elderly therapist included.
Sports Showcase: Lleyton Hewitt, a brash talent Down Under
By CHRISTOPHER TORCHIA
.c The Associated Press
MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) - Lleyton Hewitt is street tough, a tennis
gladiator with a blonde ponytail whose grit and talent have invited
comparisons to the greats of the sport.
``I like this Aussie kid,'' John McEnroe once wrote in a newspaper column.
``I'm keeping an eye on him. He's got attitude, the kind you need if you're
going to go to the very top.''
Hewitt does not turn 20 until next month. So it's way too early to rank him
beside the likes of Andre Agassi, Jimmy Connors or his idol and compatriot,
Rod Laver.
But the credentials are piling up: No. 7 in the world, seven tournament
titles and, last year, the youngest U.S. Open semifinalist since Pete Sampras
in 1990.
He put on a vintage display - replete with glares, expletives and barks of
``Come on!'' - on center court at the Australian Open on Tuesday with a
five-set, first round win over Sweden's Jonas Bjorkman. The match ended well
after midnight to a full, cheering house.
Hewitt has an arsenal of powerful groundstrokes and considers his topspin lob
to be his best shot. Agassi once said he was like Michael Chang, the
indefatigable 1989 French Open champion, only with a better serve.
But what distinguishes Hewitt, Davis Cup teammates and tennis experts say, is
how he pushes himself to victory even when his game slips a notch or two.
``You've got to draw on something in your will, in your body,'' Hewitt said
after defeating Bjorkman. ``You've got to stay positive out there. That's the
main thing. Once you start believing that you're beaten, then you are beaten.
You know, in any of my matches, I never believe that I'm beaten until, you
know, you shake your hands at the net.''
On Thursday, he faces the Tommy Haas. The German, ranked No. 23, beat Hewitt
a couple of weeks ago in a Grand Slam tuneup in his hometown of Adelaide.
Devoted to tennis since 13, Hewitt wears a baseball cap backward over his
ponytail. He runs on sand dunes near his home and likes Sylvester Stallone's
``Rocky'' movies. He pumps himself before matches by listening to high-octane
rock songs such as ``Eye of the Tiger.''
For some players, though, Hewitt's brashness is too much. Spain's top player,
Alex Corretja, last month criticized Hewitt's behavior after beating the
Australian in the Masters Cup in Portugal.
``Hewitt is an unfriendly guy and he thinks he's a know-it-all when he's on
the court. He doesn't have any respect for the opponent,'' said Corretja,
widely considered one of the most amiable pros on the tour.
Australian Patrick Rafter, the No. 12 seed and two-time U.S. Open champion,
said Hewitt is a player who needs to go his own way.
``Lleyton's got to do what works for him,'' Rafter said. ``He's one of these
guys that if he knows it's going to work for him, then he will do it.
Regardless of what anyone thinks or says about him, he will just do what he
has to do to win.''
Hewitt used to be prone to tactless remarks, once calling Australian crowds
stupid. These days, he's more careful. At a charity event last weekend, he
politely hit a few balls with Laver on a new stadium court at Melbourne's
tennis center.
Loved or not, Hewitt is a welcome jolt to a sport where many players display
little emotion. But Hewitt pumps his fist and thumps his chest. Against
Bjorkman, he fed off the home crowd, and the fans adored him for it.
``There's a lot of positive energy and vibes I could draw from out there,''
he said. ``They helped me get over the line.''
He even praised the raucous minority of Swedish fans.
``They're always there with their faces painted and their bodies painted and
yelling out each side to each other,'' he said. ``I think it's good for
tennis.''
John Fitzgerald, Australia's new Davis Cup captain, likes what he sees in his
protege.
``For anyone watching, he's a real fighter,'' he said. ``They get more than
their money's worth when he's on court. He's a real entertainer. He gives 100
percent every time he goes on court and that's extremely important. He never
likes to give an inch.''
AP-NY-01-17-01 1402EST