Hewitt blasts home fans as
"stupid''
By Paul Macpherson
(Oncourt.com; 01/06/2000)
Davis Cup hero Lleyton Hewitt has launched a scathing attack on his hometown fans
who cheered for his opponent during their second-round match at the ATP Tour
tournament in Adelaide overnight. Hewitt, who enjoyed phenomenal support from
Adelaide fans in 1988 when he stormed all the way to the title as a
16-year-old, was angered by their support for fellow Adelaide youngster Dejan
Petrovic. Hewitt won the match 6-0, 6-2.
Hewitt was also upset after being heckled by members of the crowd when he disputed a
line call when he led 5-0 in the first set. Cries of "grow up" and
"are you kidding?" upset Hewitt, who has polarised the Australia tennis
community with his high-octane on-court antics, particularly at Davis Cup level.
"It's weird, but I think that's just the stupidity of the Australian public;
you always knock the better players," Hewitt said. "It was the same last
year when I played Slava Dosedel and I'm playing in front of my home crowd and at
least three quarters of the crowd, if not more, were going for a Czech. I
couldn't believe it.
"You look at Greg Norman. The guy's a champion and you have to respect the
results he gets, but they (the Australian public) knock him. He loses and he's
called a choker.
"I'm not going to go out and change my mind just because a couple of idiots in
the crowd say "grow up".
Hewitt advances to the quarter-finals to play fellow Australian Jason Stoltenberg,
the same player he defeated to take the title in 1998. Stoltenberg defeated German
qualifier Christian Vinck 6-3, 6-4.