Hewitt makes his exit with hearts broken  28 June 2000 by Alyson Rudd 

Hewitt admitted he had no answer to the powerful serve of Gambill during their Centre Court match      yesterday.It not such a back-handed compliment after all when Pete Sampras named Lleyton Hewitt as a player who embodied the future of the game.
Having beaten Sampras in straight sets at Queen's Club, you might have concluded that Hewitt had already arrived. But his first-round exit on Centre Court revealed that the Australian teenager is, perfectly naturally, too immature to burst open the established order.
There will be some wailing and gnashing of teeth that Wimbledon has lost one of its characters too early. At every Wimbledon there is a mild panic attack experienced by those who worry about the future of the game. Old tennis is best and that is a problem. Modern tennis is dull and, more worryingly still, its rotagonists are almost automatons. So no one seems to mind that Anna Kournikova is fêted more for her youth and looks than her skill. She is a crowd pleaser and that counts for a good deal  in the world of short rallies.
 Her parallel in the men's game is Hewitt. Anywhere else and his back-to-front baseball cap would be seen as old hat and his baggy clothes seem more impractical than hip. But while he is winning, it all smacks of youthful rebelliousness. He is, after all, a former Australian Rules footballer and has the air of a lad who might yet turn in tennis and become a professional golfer or a disc jockey. When he is losing, though, he simply looks forlorn, a lost orphan. After his  6-3, 6-2, 7-5 defeat against Jan-Michael Gambill, Hewitt wore a cap the right way round and, like any teenager would, sounded grumpy when asked about his girlfriend. Kim Clijsters had earlier beaten Nathalie Tauziat and it takes a great deal of maturity to cope with any instance of a girlfriend outperforming you in public. It took the Centre Court crowd quite a while to acknowledge that their adorable Aussie was being outplayed. In the warm-up, Hewitt's ground strokes were
luxurious, Gambill's were ordinary. Yet the American opened with an ace and never really stopped blasting at Hewitt. It was power with intelligence. Hewitt, so reknowned for his return of serve, could do little in the face of Gambill's accuracy and Gambill, on occasions,  returned sublimely. The murmurings were louder than the applause when he took a 4-1 lead in the second set.  The court was undoubtedly too slippery for Hewitt - at times he barely tried to move, which for a player who usually makes the most of a scampering style, was quite a handicap.
 "Remember that name; Jan-Michael Gambill," an American spectator said to his wife as they left the court. Not even his fellow countrymen had held out much hope, it seems, for Gambill. Yet if he could reproduce this form throughout the tournament he could easily be a household name by this time next week. "He [Gambill] was too good today," Hewitt said. "He served bombs the whole the time." Although only four years Hewitt's senior, the American did show Hewitt something of the art of steadying the ship. A net cord went in Hewitt's favour at the start of the third set and Gambill took his time before his next serve. He was calming himself so evidently that it seemed implausible that he would do anything other than win the next point, which he did to claim the game.
Gambill, despite his all-American, solid good looks, cannot replace Hewitt in the adoration stakes.He is too clean-cut and even his grimaces were polite. After he served for the match he allowed himself a surprisingly ferocious punch into the air but it was too late for him to earn the tag of "a character". How different men and women's tennis is this regard. Kournikova is exceptionally pretty and therefore everyone hopes she can play a bit too. The men though can be spotty, or thin, or balding but the odd cheeky grin and ponytail allied to some talent turns them into heart-throbs. Gambill meanwhile will have to keep on winning to command attention - even back in the United States he has been neglected of late.
END

Hewitt Receives Some Of his Own Medicine 28 June 2000 by Louise Robson SportCentral

LONDON,  Lleyton Hewitt has dished out some remarkable upsets in
his short career but it's rare to find him on the receiving end.
Seeded seventh in his second appearance at Wimbledon, second favourite with
the bookies and 6-1 ON to win his first round match, Hewitt made a
humiliating exit from the championship in a straight-sets loss today to
American Jan-Michael Gambill.
It was a dramatic turnaround from Hewitt's victory over grass-court champion
Pete Sampras for the Queen's Club title this month and his worst result of a
spectacular year.
With six titles under his belt, four this year, the 19-year-old from Adelaide
was tipped as a major threat at the All England Club and a serious obstacle
to Sampras' bid for a seventh Wimbledon crown.
But he ended up emulating fellow Australian Mark Philippoussis, whose own
Queen's Club title in 1997 was followed by a first round Wimbledon exit.
Hewitt has a reputation for attitude and an ability to out-tough his
opponents with a laser-beam stare, but his usual defiance was missing as he
went down 6-3 6-2 7-5 to 56th-ranked Gambill in less than two hours on Centre
Court.
A crestfallen Hewitt put a brave face on his loss, but admitted it ranked
with his quarter-final defeat at the Australian Open in January and not far
behind last year's devastating Davis Cup final singles loss to France's
Cedric Pioline.
"I just had one of those days really," he said.
"You know you're going to have days like this but you just hope it happens in
a world series event or a little bit smaller event than Wimbledon.
"There's not a lot I can do about it.
"I'm going to get it out of my mind as quick as possible."
Hewitt's troubles started in the opening set when Gambill took an early lead.
The serve that looked so strong at Queen's went to water, his shots
increasingly found the net and the 190cm American found it easy to dominate
the first two sets.
The second set opened disastrously, despite Hewitt's attempts to pump himself
up and, as Gambill surged to a 4-1 lead, the Adelaide teenager's lack of
confidence was evident.
He failed to save the second set but a brief adrenalin surge suggested he
might take the third before Gambill came back from 5-2 down to outplay the
Australian No.1 for a second round berth.
Hewitt denied he was overcome by the occasion or that the ankle strain he
rested last week had anything to do with his loss.
And he dismissed suggestions his defeat could have cost him a place in next
month's Davis Cup semi-final against Brazil in Brisbane with Patrick Rafter
and Mark Philippoussis in top grass-court form.
"It's up to Newc (John Newcombe) and Rochey (Tony Roche)," he said of the
Australian team management.
"Obviously I think we're pretty dangerous with the three of us in the team.
"I don't think it damages anything really.
"I played one bad match, I think everyone has that."
While Hewitt was losing, his girlfriend and doubles partner Kim Clijsters
staged an upset of her own.
The 17-year-old from Belgium beat seventh seed Nathalie Tauziat 6-3 3-6 6-2.
But Hewitt had not watched the match and was cagey about whether he'd be
staying around to see her progress.
"Obviously Davis Cup comes first," he said, sidestepping reporters' questions.
"I want to put everything on the line and give myself the best chance of
playing well in Brisbane."

Gambill trounces seventh seed Hewitt  27 June 2000 Wimbledon by Paul Majendie

LONDON, (Reuters) - Australia's rising teenage star Lleyton Hewitt 
was brought crashing down to earth at Wimbledon on Tuesday when he was 
trounced 6-3 6-2 7-5 by American Jan-Michael Gambill in the first round. 
Hewitt, second favourite for the title, had beaten Pete Sampras in the final 
of his last tournament on grass at Queen's and was on a 13-game winning 
streak. 
``I just had one of those days,'' Hewitt, 19, said. ``I found the court very 
slippery and it did not suit my game today.'' 
``The whole time I still felt I had a chance of winning. I never doubted 
myself.'' 
Gambill, once a rising star who promised much but failed to deliver, showed 
great resolve and fierce concentration, relying on a heavy serve to get 
himself out of trouble on Centre Court. 
``He served a lot of aces. You could not do much about that,'' Hewitt said. 
The Australian - heartthrob of hundreds of teenage autograph hunters at 
Wimbledon - put in a sadly lacklustre display against Gambill, ranked 56 in 
the world. 
The American outclassed him in the first two sets, refused to give in when 
5-2 down in the third and thoroughly deserved his surprise win. 
Gambill had only advanced beyond the second round in one of his 11 Grand Slam 
appearances. Only twice this year had he been able to win more than one match 
in a tournament. 
But he seized the moment on Wimbledon's most famous stage. 
In the first set Hewitt's serve was broken in the sixth game. The first break 
point he saved with an ace but then Gambill broke him with a backhand pass. 
It was enough to give him the set. 
SECOND SET DISASTER 
The second set was a disaster for Hewitt. Unforced errors abounded, his first 
serve deserted him and Gambill's returns were devastating. 
Gambill broke Hewitt in the very first game and again in the fifth which 
Hewitt lost ignominiously on a double fault to go 4-1 down. He never 
recovered. 
Hewitt found some form in the third set, racing to a 5-2 lead and making the 
American look flat-footed. 
But Gambill never gave up. He saved three set points at 5-2 and clawed his 
way back to level the set at 5-5. 
Playing like a man possessed, the 23-year-old from Spokane, Washington, would 
not be denied, saving two break points before clinching victory on his first 
match point. 
But Hewitt refused to be too down-hearted: ``I think I am only going to get 
better and better at Wimbledon.'' 
And he consoled himself by reflecting that two other defeats had hurt more -- 
being knocked out of the Australian Open by Sweden's Magnus Norman and being 
beaten in last year's Davis Cup final by France's Cedric Pioline
END

Hewitts Hurried Exit by Alan Trengove. Australian Tennis magazine

Nothing can ever be taken for granted at Wimbledon, as we learned painfully yet again when Lleyton Hewitt lost his first-round match to the 56th-ranked Jan-Michael Gambill in straight sets.

To most, it was a huge shock. The Dynamite Kid was the 6/1 second favorite behind Pete Sampras (6/4) and ahead of Andre Agassi (10/1). He had beaten Sampras in the Queen's final and, as Sampas put it, had acquired an aura. Nothing was beyond him - or so we thought.

But whether it was the burden of carrying public expectations, the awesome surroundings of Centre Court, or deficiencies in his technique, Hewitt played badly. But we shouldn't overlook how well Gambill played. Hewitt certainly didn't. He gave full credit to Gambill's powerful service and his punishing groundstrokes, hit with two hands on both sides of his body. He'd lost once before to Gambill and knew what to expect. "Jan-Michael is a great player," he said.

Even allowing for the American's ability, however, Hewitt seemed off his game. "It wasn't the real Lleyton out there, that's for sure," said Davis Cup coach Tony Roche.

"He was dealing with being the second favorite," reckoned Pat Rafter. "He looked very cool and calm, but I think deep down he was quite nervous and tense about the whole situation. He's just got to learn to deal with expectations. It's a total learning thing. At 19, it's a great time to learn about it right now."

Gambill hammered the seventh seed's second serve and out-hit him from the baseline. Hewitt made so many unforced errors, often either over-hitting or hitting the ball too late, that if he hadn't won Queen's and Davis Cup matches on grass, one would have wondered if he still had important lessons to learn in how to adapt his game to grass.

Was his backswing too big? For such a slick mover, he frequently found himself out of position, almost off-balance, when playing his shots. The service-returns and passing shots that make him so dangerous had disappeared from his repertoire.

Hewitt himself attributed some of the blame to the slipperiness of the court. "I just felt I didn't have any footing around the court at all," he said. "It was very hard if you did get pushed out wide. With my baseline game, I really did struggle to get myself back in the point."

Most surprising was his failure to take his chances in the third set when he led 5-2, held three set-points on Gambill's next service, and later served for the match. If he had won that set, he might have shaken Gambill's confidence and turned the match around.

When all is said and done, though, it was simply another stage in the 19-year-old's development. Last year, he lost on Centre Court to Boris Becker. He learned from that experience, and he'll learn from this one, too. He knows better than anyone that he has yet to reach the quarter-finals of a Grand Slam. "That's the next step I've got to take," he said.

Hewitt is working with weights to strengthen his upper body. In a year he has beefed up his serve from 160 kph to up to 193 kph, but is still vulnerable on the second serve. He needs heavier shots in other departments, must go to the net more, and learn to manage his intensity - being continually pumped up in a series of five-set matches must be extremely exhausting. (Not that Hewitt got too excited against Gambill; if anything, he seemed emotionally subdued.)

In the meantime, he has the right attitude. "I just had one of those days," he said. "You know you're going to have them. You just hope they happen in smaller events than Wimbledon. But you can't take anything away from Jan-Michael. He was too good." ALAN TRENGOVE

Take Your Time 25 June 2000 by John Thirsk and Leo Schlink Sunday Telegraph 

LLEYTON Hewitt must be patient if he is to be a serious contender for his first grand slam title,
according to three time Wimbledon champion John Newcombe. Newcombe's advice for teenager Hewitt 
as he prepares for his second tilt at the crown is: "Don't go into the a tournament with the idea 
you're going to win it. "Work your way through the tournament and as you get near the final round
that is the time you think about winning. "The first thing is to be patient.. for Lleyton to play 
himself into the tournament and get through the first week." The 19-year old appears to have 
taken Newcombe's advice and is playing it low key in London despite the "Hewitt hysteria" which 
surrounds him, I'm obviously hopeful of doing well," he said yesterday "Wimbledon is a special 
place, it has a fantastic atmosphere and I'm really looking forward to it." 
The English public is brimming with anticipation at witnessing the frenetic baseline weaponry of
Hewitt. Long used to Australians plundering English silver- ware, the London media has taken 
Hewitt to its heart. The Guardian enthused: "So accustomed has everybody become to seeing Sampras
resolve any problem on a grass court in any one of a dozen brilliantly effective ways, that it 
came as a shock to see him so comprehensively beaten by Lleyton Hewitt. "This (Queen's) was 
Hewitt's fourth title this year, as many as Tim Henman has won in his whole career, and his first
on grass, something Henman has never managed. "Nobody who saw the way he zipped passes beyond 
Sampras on both the forehand and double-handed backhand, coupled with his rocketing returns of 
serve, could doubt that this teenager is a future Wimbledon champion." The earthier Daily Mail 
was no less impressed. "This teenager from Adelaide is, as the tennis fraternity are wont to say,
the Real Deal," the paper said. "Hewitt is becoming an intimidating figure, despite his scrawny 
build and the faintly ludicrous back-to- front baseball cap, from which a blond tuft protrudes. 
"He is too young to feel much fear and scraps like a polecat." 
Newcombe believes Hewitt is destined to win a grand slam title. He feels an ankle injury which 
forced Hewitt out of the Rosmalen event last week was a blessing in disguise and it was best for 
the youngster to take a week off. "He would have gone into the Wimbledon fortnight playing seven 
weeks straight, but now he's had the chance to recharge his batteries," Newcombe said. "Lleyton 
is hitting the ball well enough to win, but he hasn't gone into that area of winning seven five-
set matches in two weeks. 
"Eventually Lleyton is going to win a grand slam - I don't know whether it's in two weeks' time,
later this year (US Open) or next year." Newcombe predicted that Hewitt (seeded 7) and his Davis
Cup team-mates Mark Philippoussis (10) and Pat Rafter (12) would all make the last 16. 
"If Patrick is playing at 90 per cent he'll beat Yevgeny Kafelnikov (fourth round) and Mark is a
chance of going further if former title holder Andre Agassi is not healthy," Newcowmbe said. 
Hewitt is scheduled to meet defending and six-time champion Sampras in the last eight and 
Newcombe says the quarter-finals is the best place to meet the top seed. "Lleyton hasn't had the 
experience of being in the last eight of a grand slam yet," Newcombe said. "He is a great 
competitor with fire in the belly and a great attitude. He knows how to finish off a match. 
"If he gets through to the finals he'll show no fear and won't hesitate to take that extra step".
Newcornbe says Hewitt's experience and victories under the pressure of big-match play in 
Davis Cup on grass, and the combination of personal coach Darren Cahill and Cup coach Tony Roche,
will give him an edge. 

END

Hewitt Looks To Turn Slam Dreams Into Reality 23 June 2000 by Chris Wright SportCentral

LONDON,  AFP - About the only thing predictable about modern sport is
that the old guard cannot go on for ever - and where men's tennis and Lleyton
Hewitt are concerned, they can start packing their bags now.
It is surely only a matter of time before the 19-year-old from Adelaide, who
beat Pete Sampras to win the Wimbledon tune-up at Queen's Club on Sunday and
claim his fourth title of the year, graduates to lifting his first Grand Slam.
And having shown his fine fettle on English turf in recent days Wimbledon
would be the perfect place to start.
The one fly in the ointment is a recurrence of an ankle injury which forced a
precautionary withdrawal from Rosmalen on Tuesday - but Hewitt insisted
afterwards that he should be 100 percent for Wimbledon.
The fans at the all England Club, shorn for so long of a home-grown winner to
take to their hearts, have proved in the past that they are only too ready to
pin their allegiance on a charismatic, talented youngster.
For the past decade that man was Boris Becker - but the departure of "Boom
Boom Boris" has left lawn tennis aficionados here looking for a new hero.
Hewitt, his fair locks longer than those of the teenaged blond Boris, appears
to fit the bill as the rising star who can captivate the crowds and lift
thousands of heads from strawberry-filled cartons this summer.
The ponytailed teen showed with Sunday's win - which followed three defeats
by Sampras - that he is the pretender to the crown the American has worn for
six of the past seven years.
Both men promptly forecast that actually lifting the old trophy at the All
England Club might be a couple of years hence - but Hewitt will draw on any
comparison with Becker, who had raced to two titles here before his 19th
birthday and verify the adage that, if you're good enough, you're old enough.
Hewitt says he does not expect to win Wimbledon just yet - "ask me about that
if I'm in the final in a couple of Sundays time" he joked after stunning
Sampras.
"I can't be seen as the favourite - I think Pete's got the best chance," he
said modestly of the man he could face in the last eight if the draw holds up.
But he is clearly loving every minute on the grass so far with his Queen's
victory a massive confidence booster.
"Beating Sampras at Queen's was unbelievable - it was the best I've ever
returned. I've been seeing the ball like a football out there. I just had
good feelings as soon as I got here."
Those sentiments could well be transferred down the road to the All England
Club this next fortnight for the man whose stated goal was merely a top 10
place this year.
"Now I'm in the top 10 it's a dream come true. My next ambition is to win
Masters Series events and then the Grand Slams," said Hewitt as he
contemplated his next trick ahead of his opening round match against
Jan-Michael Gambill - an American who should pose rather less problems than
Sampras.
The signs are that, his ankle permitting, he won't have too long a wait.
END

Hewitt Has First Grand Slam Win In His Sights 22 June 2000 by Bill Barclay

LONDON  - Lleyton Hewitt admits he was a little overawed at
Wimbledon last year when he faced the daunting third round task of trying to
beat three-times winner Boris Becker in his own backyard.
This year will be different. Since that straight sets defeat by the
three-times Wimbledon champion the 19-year-old Australian has taken his tally
of ATP titles to six and won the Davis Cup with his country.
``Obviously the match I lost against Becker was a little bit like going and
playing in Becker's backyard out there on that Centre Court,'' he said.
``If I do have to play on that Centre Court again I'm gonna be a lot better
person because I have been through that experience -- to have had to play
such a big match where all the tradition is.
``You can really feel it as soon as you get out there. It's probably the most
nervous you could be and it definitely helped in all the Davis Cup matches I
played last year.''
Last week he proved he need fear no one at the All-England Club when he
defeated six-times Wimbledon champion Pete Sampras at Queen's Club to lift
his first grasscourt title.
As Sampras and Becker well know winners of Queen's have a habit of going on
to lift the Wimbledon title.
That may be beyond Hewitt this year but with the pony-tailed, baseball-cap
wearing Australian doing a more passable impression every day of Andre Agassi
in his pomp, nothing can be ruled out.
For now he is content to play down his chances.
``I wouldn't say I have a shot at the title. I'd say a very, very outside
shot. I'm going in there not saying I'm going to win the tournament, just to
do a bit of damage to the draw.''
FAST AROUND THE COURT
Hewitt's game is by no means perfectly suited to grass but he showed at
Queen's that an allergy to volleying is no hindrance when you boast such a
strong return of serve and move so fast around the court.
The Australian beat four big servers at Queen's -- American David Wheaton,
France's Cedric Pioline, Croatian Goran Ivansevic and Sampras -- and did not
drop a set.
Hewitt, who says he would still prefer to win his home Grand Slam, the
Australian Open, rather than Wimbledon, puts his surprising comfort on grass
down to the fact that Australia now play their home Davis Cup ties on the
surface.
``I feel more confident on the grass every time I play and that's got a lot
to do with the Davis Cup preparation,'' he said.
Hewitt suffered a blow this week when he had to pull out of the Heineken
Trophy in the Netherlands after aggravating an old ankle sprain at Queen's.
He expects to recover in time for Wimbledon and, assuming he does, the
enforced rest can only do him good.
So far this year he has already won in Adelaide, Sydney and Scottsdale and at
Queen's -- enough to place him third in the Champions' Race rankings.
A first Grand Slam title cannot be far away.


Hewitt The King Of Queen's Monday 19 June 2000 By Linda Pearce London  SportsToday

When Pete Sampras gazes into the future of tennis, he sees a pony-tailed
South Australian with a baggy shirt and clenched fists eyeballing him right
back.
While the American regards Lleyton Hewitt as an heir apparent, a more
immediate impact was made last night as Hewitt upset Sampras at Queen's Club
to win his fourth title of the year, but his first ever on grass.
``I've seen Lleyton's progress over the years and he's got better and
better,'' Sampras had said before the final. ``He's probably the future of
the game because of his quickness and his game and his heart and his mind. He
really has all the tools to be in the top 10 or 15 for the rest of his career,'' Sampras said.
Hewitt played up to that high praise with a 6-4, 6-4 victory, his first in
four attempts against Sampras, including a three-set semi-final here last
year. Perhaps the super-competitive Hewitt wanted this one slightly more, for
he routinely puts a premium on every shot, and the Sampras sights are as
firmly fixed on Wimbledon as ever.
But, that said, it was a hugely impressive performance from Hewitt, who
extended to 17-6 his fledging career record on grass.
The 19-year-old returned brilliantly and smacked a host of winners past a
below-par Sampras, the apprentice breaking the master's serve three times and
dropping his own just once, partly due to two nervous double faults in the
second game of a match played on another hot and windy day that had the
sun-starved locals declaring the arrival of a heat wave.
Hewitt became the second Australian winner at Queen's Club since his close
friend Scott Draper, who had told Hewitt he wanted to see both of their
photos up in the players' lounge as Stella Artois champions. So it now is.
Yet Hewitt says he gives himself only ``a very, very outside'' chance of
winning the Wimbledon title in three weeks.
``I'm not going in there with the added pressure that I think I can win the
tournament; I'm going in there hoping to do a little bit of damage to the
draw and if I can get into the second week, I think I've got a fighting
chance.''
Hewitt has already claimed three titles this year, two more than Sampras and
the same number as French Open champion Gustavo Kuerten, and had given
himself the chance at a fourth by thwarting Italy's 35-year-old birthday boy
Gianluca Pozzi 6-1, 6-4 in Saturday's semi-final.
``At the back of your mind, because I haven't really played a lot on grass
courts, is whether I can stand up to the firepower that a lot of the guys
have, such as the Ivanisevics and the Piolines and those types of guys, but
I've got an enormous amount of confidence now with some of the victories that
I have had this week,'' Hewitt said.
In what was perhaps something of an omen, Sampras had been slightly less
enthused about his own semi-final form, in a 7-5, 6-3 defeat of Davide
Sanguinetti, the unseeded Italian who had never the less shown through his
performance in reaching the Wimbledon quarter finals in 1998 that he was no
bunny on grass.
``Today just wasn't quite there,'' the winner of nine grasscourt titles, six
of them at Wimbledon, said. ``But, that being said, it's nice to win a match
not playing great but playing well enough to win. You can never be
disappointed about winning. But when my serve's not there you are a little
bit disappointed. It wasn't pretty, but it's a win.''
Sampras has also enjoyed success in all three previous matches against
Hewitt, including a tie-break result after the the American had trailed by a
break in the third set of what was a fine semi-final here last year. The last
match was a 6-3, 3-6, 6-1 struggle on hardcourt in the Master's Series event
in Miami in March.
Having been aware he would need to continue to return well and lift his own
service percentage in order to upset one of history's grass court champions,
Hewitt also described Sampras' earlier words as ``a great compliment to hear
from such a great player, possibly the greatest player ever to play the game
in my opinion. But obviously there's still a lot of work that I've got to do
to get up to where he's been and some of the achievements that he's had.''

END