Hewitt fears doubles trouble
22dec00 (news.com.au--The Advertiser)

LLEYTON HEWITT will resist the temptation to add more grand slam doubles
silverware to his trophy cabinet by temporarily ending his burgeoning
partnership with Max Miryni.

Hewitt and Mirnyi combined for a stunning, surprise victory at the US Open in
September but will not team at the Australian Open from January 15-28 to
allow the South Australian to concentrate on singles.

Hewitt's coach, Darren Cahill, said that as much as Hewitt relished playing
doubles - he won two titles this season to add to four singles crowns - the
teenager was intent on conserving energy for singles.

"The Australian Open singles is the No.1 tournament for Lleyton, even more so
than the French Open, Wimbledon and US Open" Cahill said.

"It's his major priority of winning a grand slam. He doesn't want to put
anything at risk by playing doubles."

This year he won singles in Adelaide and Sydney and made the doubles finals
in Adelaide and Sydney and by the time he got to Melbourne, he was struggling.

"Everything we do this year is with Melbourne in mind."

Cahill said the world No.7 was steadily improving from the breathing problem
which threatened to complicate his career.

"He saw a homeopath three or four days ago and he had a blood test
yesterday," Cahill said.

"There were a couple of little signs that things are getting better. The
results from the blood test were certainly better than the ones he got from
tests in Belgium.

"He's resting at the moment so we don't know yet if he's going to play
Adelaide [AAPT Championships from January 1-7].

"But if he continues to feel better and he wants to pick up a racquet, then
he could play Adelaide.

"He has turned down a big offer from the Hopman Cup to give himself a chance
of playing Adelaide.

"At the same time, he's not going to sacrifice his chances at the Australian
Open by playing Adelaide if he's not ready."

Hewitt has been battling the undiagnosed respiratory affliction since August
and is scheduled to play only the adidas International in Sydney as
preparation for the Australian Open.

But he is tempted to play his hometown tournament, which launched his career
three years ago.

Hewitt to cut back
By: JOHN THIRSK
20dec00 (new.com.au-The Daily Telegraph)

LLEYTON Hewitt intends scaling back his Australian summer of tennis as he
continues to battle a mystery virus which restricts his breathing.

The Adelaide tyro could halve the number of events he took on this time last
year.

In January Hewitt contested six titles in four weeks in Adelaide, Sydney and
Melbourne.

He won singles at the Australian Hardcourt titles in Adelaide and the adidas
International singles in Sydney and also reached the doubles finals in both
cities.

He then went to Melbourne Park for the Australian Open where he reached the
fourth round (singles) and third round (doubles).

While the 19-year-old went through a series of tests last week for his
breathing problems, coach Darren Cahill yesterday confirmed the world No7
would only play singles in two or possibly three tournaments next month.

The feisty teenager, who returned home to Adelaide with his family, has gone
to ground since returning from the Davis Cup final in Barcelona last weekend.

An exhausting 2000 tournament schedule of 20 singles (4-1 in finals) and 13
doubles (2-2) on the ATP Tour, four Davis Cup ties (eight matches) plus two
grand slam mixed doubles events has left him mentally and physically spent
over the last two months with breathing difficulties.

Hewitt is an energy-plus player, regarded as the fastest on-court mover in
the game and one who doesn't know what the word "give up" means with his
aggressive style and emotional outbursts.

Since arriving back home in Adelaide from Barcelona, Hewitt has visited
homeopaths, naturapaths, dietitians and blood specialists to diagnose the
cause of his ailment.

He is now putting his feet up for a couple of weeks as he awaits the results.

"I haven't seen Lleyton since he arrived home from the Davis Cup last week.
He was having tests done and is having a couple of weeks rest," coach Cahill
said yesterday.

"I know he would like to play in his home town and try and win the Australian
Hardcourt for a third time in January (1-7), but there will not be any
decision on that event until next week.

"He will only be playing singles in Sydney and at the Australian Open and
again in Adelaide, if he plays that event.

"This year he got to the finals of all four events in Adelaide and Sydney,
winning both singles.

"This time I believe he should have a little less tournament play (no
doubles) going into the Australian Open."

Cahill explained that Hewitt had just come off a hectic final end to the
season.

"With the Tennis Masters Cup in Lisbon and then the Davis Cup final its been
a late finish," he said.

Biting at the heels of success
5 Dec 2000
A very determined Lleyton Hewitt
Pre-match inspiration from listening to 'Eye of the Tiger' from the Rocky
soundtrack will come as no surprise to fans of Lleyton Hewitt.

The Australian teenager, with his hard-runnng, counter-punching style, has a
reputation as a highly competitive player. It is Hewitt's natural ferocity
and determination which earned him the No. 7 position on the ATP Champions
Race at the close of 2000.

Bursting onto the tennis scene in 1998 to take the Adelaide AAPT
Championship, Hewitt became the youngest Tour winner at 16 years and 10
months since Michael Chang a decade earlier.

At the age of nineteen the Adelaide youngster now has six titles under his
belt. His achievements in 2000 include winning in Adelaide (for the second
time), Sydney, Scottsdale, and Queen's, where he ousted American veteran Pete
Sampras in the final. At the US Open Hewitt reached the semifinals and was
denied his first Tennis Masters Series title when he was defeated by Wayne
Ferreira in a five set match in Stuttgart.

It is Hewitt's understanding of tennis as spectacle and performance, combined
with his competitive zest, which makes him such a dynamic and watchable
player on court. It is also a quality that has led some to misinterpret the
enthusiastic young player.

"People say that I am in my opponent's face or sort of something like that
but I am out there and I am giving 100%. I am giving fist pumps and I am
getting the crowd involved and I am looking over at my coaches box and trying
to get them sort of pumped up and get this feeling going. And that's when I
feel like I play my best tennis."

Hewitt comes from a sporting family. His mother played netball for South
Australia while his father came from a long line of men who played Australian
Rules Football. Hewitt grew up dreaming of playing football for his state and
it wasn't until his mid-teens that Hewitt had to make the tough choice
between football and tennis.

That football is still wedded to his consciousness is evident when Hewitt
says after a win against Alex Corretja at the Australian Open, "I probably
haven't played better than that. I was seeing the ball like a football today."

But tennis has always been a part of Hewitt's life. At the age of 4 he picked
up a racquet for the first time and by 6 started to have lessons, also
practicing on the family's grass court. Two years later Hewitt was making the
long trip each year to Melbourne to watch the Australian Open.

In 1997, Lleyton Hewitt was yet again in Melbourne for the Australian Open,
this time to play as the yougest qualifier ( 15 yrs and 11 months).

His coach Darren Cahill, who nicknamed him 'Rusty'(other nicknames for Hewitt
are 'Speedy' and 'Dynamite Kid'), says, "He's rough and he's tough. He is
probably a little bit misunderstood, because he's a little on edge all the
time. He's just a little superb fellow, really nice guy."

His girlfriend, Belgium tennis player, Kim Clistjer, would no doubt agree as
would the charity, supported by Pizza Haven, which aims to raise moneyfor
disabled children which Lleyton donated money to.

CORRETJA SLAMS 'ARROGANT' HEWITT
(SportCentral; 12/01/2000)

Spain's Alex Corretja lit the fuse for next week's Davis Cup final by
slamming Lleyton Hewitt as "arrogant" after beating him at the Masters Cup
tonight.

Corretja and Hewitt scrapped it out in the toughest match of the tournament
before the Spaniard prevailed 3-6 7-6 (7-3) 6-3.  Both were eager to stamp
their authority, since they will meet again in the Cup final in Barcelona
next week in the fourth rubber.  As an at-times fiery encounter wore on,
Corretja appeared to mimic Hewitt's well-known fist-pumping and cries of
"C'mon".  And after atoning for two heavy losses in Australia last January in
his only previous meetings with the teenager, Corretja accused Hewitt of
gamesmanship.

"He just appears arrogant to me," said Corretja, ranked seven to Hewitt's
six. "If he behaves that way next week there will be a nasty reception
awaiting him."

Corretja, who still bowed out of this tournament while Hewitt's fate hung in
the balance, said he was surprised to see the Australian so pumped up after
breaking him in the first game of the match.

"After four points, he's already 'C'mon'. I don't know if that's too normal,"
Corretja said.  "It's good that a guy has motivation, but sometimes I think
he's doing more like a psychological thing than other stuff. That created
some good feelings for me because I wanted to beat him badly.

"I don't like the way he behaves on court. I've never said that before for a
player."

Corretja, who at 26 has adopted a more relaxed view about tennis which will
preclude him from playing in Australia in the new year, was asked if Hewitt's
behaviour would make victory over him next week especially sweet.

"Of course," he said.

Hewitt refused to concede tonight's match had any bearing on next week.  He
admitted Corretja would be an even tougher opponent on his favoured clay
surface before his home crowd, but backed himself to rise to the challenge.

"It's really who is going to raise their game to the next level I suppose,"
said Hewitt, who lost tonight's match by playing poorly in the second set
tiebreaker, which Corretja won 7-3.

"We all know he's capable of it, especially since Spain has never won a Davis
Cup final, it's in his home city, there's a lot of incentive there to play
for.

"But I've got a lot of things I'm playing for as well. So far in my Davis Cup
career, I've only lost one live singles rubber. I believe in myself in the
big matches."

Hewitt said the pro-Corretja crowd tonight was "good experience" for next
week, while it was also valuable to play any match at all after having three
weeks off with the mystery illness which leaves him short of breath."

I'll definitely be better for the match practice," he said.  

"I still have errors in my game that I have to work on. Today I struggled
because I haven't had so many tough matches under my belt the last few weeks.
It's a big ask to come here and match it with the best guys in the world.

"Who knows? If I made that volley at 2-1 in the tiebreaker, it could have
been a different story."

The point in question was probably the most crucial of the match. Up a
mini-break and on serve, Hewitt would have led 3-1 had he not netted the easy
forehand. Instead Corretja took both points off his serve and held his own
confidently to lead 5-3.

Hewitt was noticeably deflated into the third set, and quickly found himself
5-0 down, a position from which he could not recover.

With one win and two defeats, he faces a nervous wait tomorrow, hoping for a
Pete Sampras loss against top seed Marat Safin in order to qualify for the
semi-finals.

In green group matches today, second seed Gustavo Kuerten kept his hopes
alive and all but ended Magnus Norman's, winning 7-5 6-3, guaranteeing No.8
Andre Agassi a semi-final place after his 6-1 6-4 drubbing of No.5 Yevgeny
Kafelnikov.

Hewitt falls in three to Corretja
(SportsToday)

LISBON, Nov 30 AAP - Spain's Alex Corretja scored a psychologically important
victory over Australian Davis Cup final rival Lleyton Hewitt in their final
round robin match at the tennis Masters Cup here tonight.

Corretja, heavily beaten in his only two previous matches against the
19-year-old, fought back gamely to win 3-6 7-6 (7-3) 6-3 in the best match of
the $US3.7 million ($A7.13 million) end-of-season tournament so far.

The result in the indoor hardcourt tournament severely damages Hewitt's
chances of making Saturday's semi-finals.

With one win and two losses, he only has a chance of making the final four if
Pete Sampras loses to top seed Marat Safin in the final red group match
tomorrow.

Hewitt, who has been suffering from a mystery illness leaving him short of
breath, said he would be a tougher opponent for Corretja in the Davis Cup
final.

``It was a good piece of experience going into next week for sure,'' Hewitt
said.

``I'll definitely be better for the match practice. I had three weeks off
coming into this tournament.

``I'm going to raise my game for next week and I'm going to be better for
this match.''

Corretja said the win was important.

``It was important to see that I could beat him tonight, especially since I
lost so badly to him before,'' said Corretja, ranked seventh in the world to
Hewitt's sixth.

``It was good to see that I could win here on this court, and next week we'll
be on clay, which I prefer, and at our home court.''

While both men had previously tried to downplay the significance of tonight
from a Davis Cup viewpoint, the intensity of their battle from the start
strongly suggested each was keen to strike the first blow ahead of the Cup
final.

There was perhaps more incentive for Corretja, given that he had come off
badly bruised from his previous two meetings with a Hewitt -- a straight sets
loss in Sydney last January followed by a 6-0 6-0 6-1 thrashing a week later
at the Australian Open.

But it was Hewitt who again gained the early ascendancy, racking up three
break points against Corretja's serve in the opening game, and converting the
third with a forehand winner.

Each player held serve comfortably from there, until the Spaniard saw a ray
of hope in the eighth game, with Hewitt serving at 4-3.

The match erupted in controversy when Hewitt, serving at deuce, hit an
overhead smash which was called in but which Corretja felt was clearly out.
He argued his point with the umpire in a delay of a few minutes, before
Hewitt held with an ace.

He went on to break the rattled Corretja in the next game to take the set.

Games went to serve in the second set until Corretja broke Hewitt from deuce
to lead 3-2, a punch and a cry showing the determination on his side of the
net, particularly after his two losses to start the tournament.

The match tightened up from there, until Hewitt was able to draw level in the
10th game. He squandered his fightback, however, by paying poorly in the
tiebreak.

Hewitt then appeared deflated coming out for the third set, and had no way
back after falling 5-0 behind.

END--AAP