Money may cruel clay option Nov 23

By Patrick Miles

THE choice of surface for February's first-round Davis Cup tie against Britain could be determined by Tennis Australia's budget for the event.

The governing body has initiated a feasibility study to examine the possibility of playing the tie on clay, to exploit the weakness of grass-court specialists Tim Henman and Greg Rusedski.

According to Wally Masur, the Australian team's coach, "it can be done - we know that". But the decision will depend on how much TA is prepared to spend on the event which, as an Anglo-Australian contest, is expected to draw large crowds.

At least two other clay courts would have to be provided for practice on site.

After TA spent close to $1million to host last year's final against France on a temporary grass court and Australia lost, it might be reluctant to take the same path next year.

The first task for the TA board at the end of the month will be to choose the host city. Then Masur and captain John Fitzgerald will consult their players.

Masur confirmed that Sydney and Perth were the front-runners, and he believes it would be possible to lay a clay court on the existing Rebound Ace at Homebush Bay in time for the tie from February 7 to 9.

For an old serve-and-volley merchant like Masur, the thought of a home tie on clay would have been horrifying but the reality is that it would give Australia the best chance of beating Britain.

With the world No.1, Lleyton Hewitt, and Mark Philippoussis expected to lead Australia's campaign, Masur is confident of the advantage that lies in clay.

"When we say we might play the English on clay, it's not that outrageous because Australia won the Davis Cup with Lleyton and 'Flip' on clay. So it's not that big a stretch," Masur said in a reference to the 1999 final against France in Nice.

"The good thing about most of the Australian players is they're not surface-specific.

"The players have got to be on a surface they feel they can win the tie on. I wouldn't say it's Australia's best surface but it's certainly the Poms' worst surface."

Masur said he was expecting Philippoussis to be available for the February tie, providing the injury-prone Victorian proved his fitness in January.

Philippoussis will begin the season in Chennai before moving to his home town of Melbourne for the Commonwealth Bank International and the Australian Open.

"We hope that he gets through, that he's fit and strong and he plays. And he's indicated that he's coming to play, he's playing Davis Cup," Masur said.

Masur and Hewitt visited the Sydney International Tennis Centre yesterday to mix with 80 young players taking part in the annual international tennis camp named after the Wimbledon and Masters champion.

As Hewitt hit on the centre court with each child in turn, despite having undergone an operation this week to remove a small growth from the sole of his right foot, Masur cast some light on how Hewitt was able to last the distance and win the Masters in Shanghai.

The 21-year-old South Australian emerged victorious from two epic and exhausting encounters in the semi-finals and final, even though he had already given his all to retain his year-end No.1 ranking.

Masur said the only thing certain where Hewitt was concerned was uncertainty.

"The thing about Lleyton is, I almost expect to be surprised," Masur said. "I really thought that when he got to No.1, he would emotionally fall in a hole. I couldn't believe he went on to win those two matches.

"The way he motivates himself ... he's got some little inner ball of energy that he draws upon ... because as it turned out, the winner of the tournament got a car and I think in his mind he decided he wanted that car - a car that he could go out and buy any day of the week."

The Australian

Lleyton's No. 1 with the kids on centre court
By JOHN THIRSK
22nov02

SOMEWHERE among the throng of back-to-front cap-wearing kids stood the world No. 1.

Lleyton Hewitt might be the biggest name in international tennis, but the 82 kids on centre court of Sydney's International Tennis Centre yesterday couldn't believe they were standing, literally, almost face to face with their hero.

They had come from all over Australia and as far afield as Japan and New Zealand – their parents forking out $2000 a pop – to eat, sleep and breathe the game of tennis for one week at the Lleyton Hewitt International week-long junior camp.

For the kids, it was a dream come true. For Hewitt, it was the chance to directly put something back into the game at grass-roots level.

Most definitely, it was the day tennis came face to face with the next generation of Lleyton Hewitts.

There were shouts of "c'mon", baggy shorts and the odd fist-pump thrown in too.

Perhaps not surprisingly, it seemed everyone wanted to mimicked Australia's tennis superstar.

The 21-year-old Hewitt couldn't hide his delight when he spotted all 82 kids wearing their caps back to front. "I think it's great there are kids who want to be another Lleyton Hewitt – to strive to reach the top," he said.

World No. 1 two years running, Hewitt said he clearly remembered his early development camps in Adelaide under his first coach, Peter Smith.

"Lleyton is aware of his responsibility as the No. 1 in the world to help the sport grow," Hewitt's manager Robert Aivatoglou said.

"He wants to put something back into the game and it was his idea to hold a camp in Australia.

"Lleyton found how beneficial these camps were when he was a youngster like these kids. He gets a lot of satisfaction seeing kids enjoy the sport and then participate."

Most of the youngsters admitted to having posters of their hero plastered on their bedroom walls.

Many of the kids have played at state and national age events and represent Australia's future.

Samuel Thompson, 9, from Melbourne, said Hewitt's hairstyle was cool and liked the fact he wears his cap back to front.

Vicki Dimitrakopoulos, 11, from Adelaide, thought Hewitt was taller than he is, but added, "I like him because he follows the Adelaide Crows."

April Albertini and her twin brother Jonathan, 13, from the Gold Coast, said they loved Lleyton's attitude.

But April too was surprised by his lack of height. "He's a lot smaller close up than on TV," she said.

It will be the only time the juniors get to see their hero this week – they will be busy honing their skills with the aid of 16 coaches.

I'm so proud of my boy - Glynn
By John Thirsk
November 19, 2002

HE started the tennis year burnt out and physically sick yet ended it with the fist-pumping power of a man at the top of his game.

And as a triumphant Lleyton Hewitt yesterday threw his arms around his parents Glynn and Cherilyn after winning the Tennis Masters Cup in Shanghai, the hidden forces behind the young South Australian's fightback this year came to light.

With tears of pride welling in his eyes, Lleyton's dad spoke for Australians everywhere when he said he was proud of his son, his fighting qualities and the family values that had helped drive him to world No.1 for the second year in a row.

"I'm just so proud of him. We were worried about Lleyton earlier in the year when he went down with chicken pox and was struggling to get well again, but he fought hard to get back to win at Wimbledon and again here," said Glynn Hewitt.

"We are a close family. Lleyton and his sister Jaslyn get on well and my wife and I have vivid memories of Lleyton playing cricket in the backyard and booting a footy around.

"When he is away he knows how to run up a mobile phone account. He calls home at least once a day. It's not only the family he calls but his mates too."

Glynn Hewitt said he was convinced the close family unit and his life-long friendships back home had helped shape Lleyton's steely mental game.

But he also pointed to his son's love affair with Belgian star Kim Clijsters as an important part in Lleyton's life.

"Kim has stayed with us and is now part of our family and they get to spend a lot of time with each other despite their busy schedules," Glynn Hewitt said.

"Kim's a good kid and a ball of energy. Lleyton is hyperactive - he has to be doing something all the time - so the pair of them keep each other busy."

Hewitt didn't waste any time sharing his great news with his girlfriend after outlasting Juan Carlos Ferrero in a five-set classic to win the Tennis Masters Cup.

Still courtside, the clearly smitten 21-year-old was straight on his mobile phone to Clijsters, who last week won the women's season-ending championship in Los Angeles.

The exciting double was worth $5 million to tennis's hottest couple.

Hewitt, 21, and Clijsters, 19, will be in Sydney on Thursday for his International Tennis Camp at Homebush and again on Sunday for the Starlight Cup Charity event before heading back home to Adelaide for a well-earned rest.

He will then set his sights on his next goal ... the Australian Open starting in Melbourne on January 16.

"That's the one he wants now," revealed Glynn Hewitt.

Hewitt will line up with Alicia Molik, representing Australia in the Hopman Cup in Perth from December 29-January 4, as a prelude to the Australian Open.

It was at this event late last year that Hewitt's career stumbled when he contracted chicken pox. He struggled with his health in the lead-up to the Open before bravely trying to compete.

Hewitt crashed out in the first round to Spanish slugger Albert Martin but has vowed to make amends this year.

Hewitt to recharge batteries
By Neil Harman, Darren Walton, The Times and AAP
November 19, 2002

LLEYTON HEWITT will spend the next few weeks exploring the delights and dangers that form the mysterious beauty of the Great Barrier Reef.

It might be as well for any passing shark, stingray or box jellyfish that considers taking a nibble out of his pale flesh to swim away.

Too long looking into his sea-blue eyes is certainly enough to see off all manner of human predator.

Juan Carlos Ferrero stared Hewitt down for three hours and 51 minutes of a wondrous final in Shanghai on Sunday night but come the next minute, he was cut down by what could only be likened to the sting of a jellyfish's tail.

Ferrero was the victim and yet it was Hewitt who fell flat on his back. The look on his face when he rose suggested he could not believe what he had done.

A year that began with chicken pox ended with him running around a Chinese tennis court like a chicken with its head cut off.

"It's fantastic. It's been another very special week, not only in my tennis career, but in my life in general," Hewitt said.

"My main aim was (to clinch the No. 1 ranking), and then to come out and win the Masters Cup and defend it again.

"It's not the easiest thing to do when you're playing against the other seven best players in the world."

Ferrero will lead a Spanish invasion of Sydney in January, where five of the eight Masters Cup combatants will contest the Adidas International in the lead-up to the Australian Open.

In what will be one of the strongest men's fields in the tournament's history, Ferrero, Carlos Moya, French Open champion Albert Costa, Russian world No. 3 Marat Safin and Swiss world No. 6 Roger Federer have all entered the tournament at Homebush Bay.

Hewitt will by-pass Sydney, preferring to practise in the week before his home grand slam tournament.

All four of Hewitt's Shanghai Masters Cup wins went the full distance.

"Every match this week was a grind. I didn't have one easy match. I've got no idea how I got through, especially with the way my body's been feeling."

He admitted he "hit the wall" midway through the match.

"No doubt there was times during the match when I was hurting and I was struggling. My legs just felt dead out there," Hewitt said.

"I just had a bit of a letdown and just sort of hit the wall out there half-way through the third set.

"It was no surprise to me that I was running out of gas. I haven't been able to do any training over the last four to six months."

After his win Hewitt hardly knew where to turn next, whether to bow to the people, run into the embrace of his coach, mates and parents or embark on a circuit of the court.

He contrived something that pulled together all three in glorious, fuzzy, disparate harmony.

Ferrero could only sit, ashen and dumbstruck on his seat, flashing a glance or two in the direction of his coach Antonio Martinez.

The Spaniard, the losing finalist in the French Open this year, had clambered back from two sets down, broke Hewitt's first two service games of the fifth and only had to sustain those levels to win.

But that is when it gets terribly difficult against Hewitt.

"He goes to another place when he is on the court," his manager Tom Ross said.

"There's passion, success and his uncompromising, take-no-prisoners attitude.

"I'm not saying he would ever win Boy Scout of the year, but he is as sincere a young man as you could wish to work for.

"He is absolutely professional in all he does. He is the leader of the generation and yet he has achieved this against guys like Safin, Federer and Ferrero, who could be challenging him for No. 1 next year."

Hewitt says it is an honour to beat these guys and he means it.

It is not unreasonable to forecast now that the odds are already on Hewitt winning at least one slam next year.

And other records are likely to tumble at his electric feet.

By the end of the year, he will have surpassed Jim Courier (58) in weeks as No. 1 in the rankings, and he has no points to defend in the Australian Open in January (he lost in the first round to Alberto Martin, of Spain, this year) so every win will be a plus.

The Australian

Hewitt defies all odds
By Jeff Wells
November 19, 2002

THE big question about Lleyton is not what he can do on a tennis court but how long he can keep doing it.

He cannot, for example, expect to win less points and games than class opponents and still win major titles. For that is the magic act he managed against Juan Carlos Ferrero in the Tennis Masters Cup final. In his 7-5 7-5 2-6 2-6 6-4 result he won 24 games to 26 and 138 points to 143.

He also committed an outrageous 71 unforced errors to the young Spaniard's 41. Ferrero was his equal in almost every department except two. First, Hewitt hit 50 winners on a slow court in which winners required the chess master's ability to manoeuvre.

Second, he ended up with the only statistic that really counted to him -- he went into the win column in the "fifth major". And the only explanation for that statistic is the intangible "will to win".

Ferrero, at 22, is a brilliant player, a French Open finalist this year and a Davis Cup hero who revels in the slow going, the tough slog that the Spanish learn on their red dirt.

He is 3cm taller than Hewitt at 183cm and 4kg heavier at 72kg and he had a surface as close to clay as he would have wanted.

And for Hewitt it was a quagmire compared to the slick grass of Wimbledon where he won this year.

Yet even when he had Hewitt reeling on jelly legs - like a Kostya Tszyu KO victim - he couldn't put him away. Why not? "Because," said one famed British writer as we walked away from it, "Hewitt has it and Ferrero doesn't. I thought Hewitt was always going to win."

Personally, I thought he was gone. I was exhausted from just sitting and scoring his 7-5 5-7 7-5 semi-final win over Roger Federer, which was played at such blistering intensity that I staggered straight to the Heineken fridge in the press centre for four quick restoratives.

As Hewitt pointed out after beating Ferrero, it wasn't just the final that satisfied him. He had been feeling lousy, his immune system was wrecked, and he had no great trust in his residual fitness because he hadn't been able to train properly for months.

He had a slow start to the tournament in which he scraped past Albert Costa in three and then lost to his nemesis Carlos Moya. Yet he was cheeky - or was it sagacious - enough to suggest that if he made it to the semis he might just be "hitting the ball well enough to win it".

And he did win it by first beating a berserk world No.3 Marat Safin - who played better than anybody - then No.6 Federer and No.4 Ferrero within four days. Few grand slams require that sort of effort.

So how does he do it? Safin wonders, because he knows Hewitt has no better weapons. But it is as if Hewitt has developed a computer within his head. His feet seem to work of their own accord while his brain keeps playing the percentages.

A match can go on and on, like the final did for nearly four hours, but he never panics and seems to know exactly how much he has left, and when to call on his reserves for the extra lift in the tight situation, or the chance to break his man.

He is far more mature and intelligent than he is given credit for on and off the court. But every dictate of sport and physiology screams that not even he can keep this up.

And he is aware of it. He only had to look at Moya, who was playing the most devastating tennis early. Moya is 26: he couldn't see it through.

Hewitt has declared he will change his schedule to protect his body. More of the big-points events in the Champions Race, like the grand slams and the nine event Masters series, less of the small stuff unless it is necessary to play catch-up. Even so he will still play the Hopman Cup to warm up for the Australian Open.

He also needs work on his first serve which had a woeful percentage here. He needs those free points. When it is working he is almost untouchable. His second is one of the most reliable in the game but that won't ease the pain in his body long term.

He also has to worry about his commitment to Davis Cup. His unquestioned patriotism will be a heavy load. Nothing takes it out of a player like Hewitt faster than battling more for his country than for himself. He and coach Jason Stoltenberg will have to manage his schedule.

Then there is his fame. Two years as No.1 have made him one of the planet's most identifiable sportsmen. Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi are on their way out and at the moment he has the measure of his own age group, the young guns. So he simply cannot be denied the world spotlight. In this huge, roaring city his face has been on a poster or billboard almost every 100m. And it was saturation coverage in every newspaper.

With the fame and the glory go the commitments to media and sponsors. They have to be managed to perfection, to keep him on the practice court enough.

He grows smoother by the day in public, never losing his larrikin sense of humour, but always diplomatic - except towards the ATP which wants to fine him $US100,000 over a missed TV interview in Cincinnati when officials admit privately that it should be no more than $US5000.

He would not have been impressed that the same officials allowed Andre Agassi to abandon this hugely important tournament, claiming a sore hip, which could not be verified, and even thanked him for coming.

Hewitt and the ATP need to smoke the peace pipe after his appeal, which was heard last week, is judged. He needs to keep his mind on his tennis.

But above all he needs to dedicate himself to protecting that priceless skinny little body. It's the container for that Phar Lap heart.

No.1 in Adelaide
By Tim Dornin
19nov02

A DESIRE to remain number one sustained Lleyton Hewitt through some of the toughest months of his career this year.

Unable to train for the last half of 2002 and battling the effects of a virus, Hewitt said being number one took centre stage after his Wimbledon triumph.

And with the battle going down to the wire against Andre Agassi, it was his desire to go back-to-back which kept him going, especially in the season-ending Masters Cup in Shanghai.

"I wanted number one, it's as simple as that," he said on his return to his hometown of Adelaide today.

"A lot of people would have written me off at the start of the year after having chicken pox and after playing in the Australian Open but being unable to perform at my peak.

"That was a big setback and I was really disappointed after that.

"But after I got into contention for the number one then I put the rest of the year into gunning for that.

"I thought that would be a great achievement, going back-to-back.

"It was more satisfying in some ways this year, because I felt I overcame more obstacles to get it."

Hewitt now plans to enjoy some rest and recreation at home before starting the new season at the Hopman Cup in Perth at the end of December.

From there he will target the Australian Open with hopes of improving on his best ever showing of a fourth round appearance.

With some solid matches behind him in Perth, Hewitt believes he has as good a chance as anyone of victory in Melbourne.

"You've just got to find the right preparation going into the Australian Open," he said.

"Last year, getting the chicken pox, was probably not the best thing.

"But I've just got to take it one match at a time and I feel that if I can get myself into the second week and get some matches under my belt then I've got as good a chance as anyone.

"But to put yourself in that situation is going to be tough and I know there's going to be a lot of expectation."

Success in Melbourne might also depend on him finally overcoming a virus which prevented him from doing any off-court training in the second half of the year.

Hewitt has been regularly consulting doctors about his condition, taking advice on which tournaments to miss to ensure he could continue playing.

"I sort of just hit the wall after Wimbledon," he said.

"I took a few weeks off but probably shouldn't have played in Toronto where I lost in the first round.

"Somehow I was able to win a few matches in Cincinnati and just tried to ride the wave of winning some matches and be match tough for the rest of the year."

After the Australian Open, Hewitt said he was still considering his schedule for the rest of 2003.
Money will not affect Hewitt: Newk
Paul Malone, tennis
19nov02

LLEYTON Hewitt will not have his focus shaken by his earnings explosion and could win as many as eight Grand Slam titles, his former Davis Cup mentor John Newcombe predicted yesterday.

Hewitt's prizemoney haul in 2002 of $US4.61 million ($A7.71m) takes him to career earnings of $US10.86m ($A18.13m) and No. 16 on the all-time money list of male players.

Staggeringly, he is a mere $US240,000 ($A400,800) behind Pat Rafter's career earnings.

In only his fourth year in the men's top 100, Hewitt's prizemoney already towers over the earnings of Jimmy Connors ($US8.61m, $A14.37m) amassed between 1972-91.

Each important tournament win increases his endorsement value in the US, Asia and Europe.

"He's not a bloke who is motivated by material things. They aren't that important to him – he's playing because he wants to," said Newcombe, a triple Wimbledon champion.

"What he's done here is unbelievable, the way he started off the year with his bout of chicken pox, everyone was betting he wouldn't end up as No. 1.

"Given good health, there is no reason why he can't end up with five to eight Grand Slam tournaments. Every goal he has set himself, he has achieved and he's 21.

"I don't think success hurts Lleyton as long as he keeps that mental drive and wants to keep doing it."

Hewitt's two Grand Slam singles titles before his 22nd birthday is one more than Pete Sampras – winner of a men's record 14 Grand Slam singles titles – had managed by the same age.

Australian Roy Emerson is next on the honour roll with 12, ahead of Rod Laver and Bjorn Borg on 11. Hewitt's success in 2002 will spark debate over his place in Australian tennis history.

"He has to be right up there. Times are tougher now and we'd have been thrashed, a lot of us," said Australia's 1958 Wimbledon champion Ashley Cooper. "Whether the modern training and technology they have now would have made all the difference, I'm not sure.

"Where he's the best I've ever seen is his uncanny ability to unerringly pick the right shot, especially in the tight situations. My only concern with him is if he wants longevity he'll have to play less, but he already seems to be addressing that."

Newcombe and Cooper said Hewitt's reliance on stamina and court speed makes his decision to cut back on his schedule, in order to concentrate on the four Grand Slams at the possible expense of his hold on the world No. 1 ranking, all the more important.

Australian Davis Cup captain John Fitzgerald and coach Wally Masur said the team's absence from the Davis Cup final this week would give Hewitt the extended break to assist his bid to win the Australian Open in January.

"He's really gone almost four years without a proper break. I'm not talking about a sabbatical, but his tennis would only be helped by having the break he is going to get," Fitzgerald said. "I know I'm biased, but to finish No. 1 two years in a row, something even Andre Agassi hasn't done, in a truly global sport like tennis, I can't believe he doesn't get more acknowledgement than he does."

Defending only first round points at the Australian Open, Hewitt will have 59 weeks up at No. 1 by the New Year and is assured of surpassing Stefan Edberg's 72-week hold on the top spot by mid-March. Only Sampras (286), Ivan Lendl (270), Connors (268), McEnroe (170), Borg (109) and Agassi (87) would be ahead of him on statistics kept since 1973.

"I marvel at Sampras's record of finishing No. 1 for six straight years and while I would never say Lleyton can't do anything, I always say: 'Let's just enjoy the ride'," Masur said. "He has extraordinary reserves of willpower and doesn't let his mind wander."

Cooper, who runs a successful tennis centre in the northern Brisbane suburb of Carseldine, said Hewitt had made a tangible contribution to Australian tennis, as there were now a lot of "little Lleytons" wearing baseball caps backwards and swinging themselves off their feet.

"Junior tournament fields in Queensland are up about 25 per cent (on field sizes five years ago)," Cooper said. "The interesting thing is when the McEnroe, Connors, Cash group were around (in 1980s) we didn't get the flow on because parents didn't want their kids to be like them. Now, with Pat (Rafter) and Lleyton, parents want them to be like them."

In the next couple of weeks Hewitt will take a Great Barrier Reef holiday, but also complete commitments to a Starlight Foundation charity tennis day in Sydney on Sunday and his own tennis camp in Sydney.

Lleyton moving to top of rich list
By Katrina Beikoff
November 19, 2002

IN the international offices of Lleyton Hewitt's sports management handlers, Octagon, the figures kept spinning.

With his successful Masters Cup defence, the value of the 21-year-old world No.1 is in overdrive. Hewitt has earned almost $30 million this year, making him one of Australia's highest-paid sports stars.

He is expected to challenge for top spot in the annual rich list that has been dominated for the past few years by Greg Norman, who still raked in $48.25m last year.

Having cemented his position as world No.1, the big deals are expected to keep coming.

"What he's done is truly outstanding," said Hewitt's manager Rob Aivatoglou.

"He's catapulted into elite company - look at the list of players who have got to No.1 and there are some outstanding names, then look at those who have managed to maintain it and you realise he's in a remarkable position."

The win in Shanghai earned Hewitt $US1.4m ($2.48m). It pushed his prizemoney earnings for the year to $6.68m plus a $1.54m bonus for winning the 2001 Champions Race and fulfilling his commitments as world No.1 during the 2002 season.

His career prizemoney total is a staggering $17.7m.

On top of his on-court wins is his swag of sponsorship and endorsement deals.

"It's difficult to quantify just yet the impact of this latest win," said Aivatoglou, who said even he had not been able to get through to the constantly engaged phones in Octagon's China office yesterday.

Industry insiders estimate Hewitt will now command $500,000 an endorsement deal.

"This win cements his position in the top five athlete endorsement opportunities in Australia," said Craig Dodson of the Melbourne-based sponsorship valuation company, Sponsorship Solutions.

Hewitt will arrive in Adelaide this morning where he collects another prize, a CLK320 Mercedes. He has two endorsement campaigns airing shortly - Milo and Sorbent.

Hewitt raises roof in China

By Bud Collins, Globe Staff, 11/18/2002

HANGHAI - They had to raise the roof to make room for the tennis party called the Masters Cup. But no roof is high enough to contain the soaring energy and spirit of the little thundercloud out of Australia named Lleyton Hewitt.

At the mere age of 21, the rambunctious 5-foot-11-inch player has burst through the ceiling again. Clinging to his No. 1 ranking, he savored the $1.4 million he collected at the New International Expo Centre during the last roundup of the seemingly endless 2002 campaign.

As the fiddler on the roof of the game, he swings a triumphant tune with his stringed instrument, a melody that is difficult to follow. But Hewitt needed a fifth-set encore to escape the persistent clutches of the willowy and gritty Spaniard, Juan Carlos Ferrero, in a brilliant final that stretched them to their limits for almost four hours.

An exuberant full-house assemblage nearly ran out of gasps during long, explosive exchanges as Ferrero twice took service break leads in the fifth but couldn't kill the will of a sagging, then resurgent, Hewitt, who won, 7-5, 7-5, 2-6, 2-6, 6-4.

The story line for the 33d edition of the Masters: Can No. 2 Andre Agassi, the amazingly ambulatory antique, abduct the No. 1 ranking from Hewitt?

Agassi, closing in on his 33d birthday, was Chinese-checkered in his first two starts, by Jiri Novak and yesterday's almost-Master, Ferrero.

However, Hewitt, who won the Masters a year ago among the home folks in Sydney, was no sure thing to repeat. A wind-up doll who never unwinds, Hewitt isn't used to waiting. He charges about like a bull surrounded by a sea of red.

But he had to patiently bide his time over the last four days, including sweating out a match he had nothing to do with: Carlos Moya's victory over Albert Costa in the preliminary round-robin phase. Moya, who had beaten Hewitt, did him a favor. Had Costa won, he would have taken a semifinal slot away from Hewitt.

Had the builders of the Expo Centre not raised the roof before the tournament began, they might have taken away one of Hewitt's weapons. Because the architects were short on knowledge of tennis - and the high-arching lob shot - construction of the roof had been a problem.

''They were working on a 37-foot-high ceiling,'' said Charles Smith, the American resident of Shanghai who promoted the Masters. ''That wouldn't do. I told them we needed 56 feet. OK. Fine. The government has been very cooperative. We got 56 feet. They built this place, seating 10,000, in four months. Construction is the marvel of this new China. They start and don't stop, 24 hours a day until a building is finished.''

Once Hewitt started, he didn't stop, either, except for a couple of blips courtesy of Spain: the loss to Moya, and yesterday's third and fourth sets when 22-year-old Ferrero overwhelmed Hewitt.

Prior to the final, he had to get rid of the gifted Marat Safin (6-4, 2-6, 6-4) and the rising Roger Federer (7-5, 5-7, 7-5). The Russian led, 2-0, 30-0, in the third, muffed a couple of volleys, and Hewitt was all over him. Federer had five set points in the first, but Hewitt, canceling 16 of 21 break points, smacked his way out of trouble in a magnificent rumble that lasted three hours.

''He runs down too many balls,'' said Federer.

So he does, but so did Ferrero, who beat Hewitt two years ago in Barcelona to nail down the Davis Cup for Spain.

Their dashing and bashing inspired the 10,000 witnesses to raise the roof with virtually nonstop emotional cries and applause.

When it came down to the last set of the last tournament, Hewitt was in the dinger, lagging by a break at 1-0, another at 2-1, then trailing, 3-1.

''I wouldn't have believed I'd be sitting here as the winner,'' said the Wimbledon champ. ''But I kept thinking about my quarterfinal there, when I won the first two sets, lost the next two to Sjeng Schalken, and was twice down a break in the fifth. I knew I'd come through before.''

Groping through three deuces only to lose serve in the third game, Hewitt suddenly got his second - or was it his fifth? - wind. A new passage was dawning for him, recalling a line from an old ballad, ''The Road to Mandalay'': ''The dawn comes up like thunder out of China 'cross the bay.'' He was thundering again, surrendering only one point on serve the rest of the way. Puncturing Ferrero to 3-3, then holding, Hewitt was ahead in a set for the first time in nearly two hours.

As the crowd chanted his name, Ferrero retaliated to 4-4 with two aces, but Hewitt wasn't letting go. He served to 5-4 with an ace and two winners, and charged to turn the Spaniard's drop shot into another winner. Ferrero missed a backhand, as he often had in losing the first two sets. ''You miss, you pay,'' he said later.

Ferrero saved the first match point, but was caught at the net, his half-volley not good enough. Deftly, with a two-handed upward thrust, he pitched a lob softly but deadly above and beyond his foe. Ferrero knew it was the last shot of the year. He didn't want to look. Instead, he lowered his eyes to the court and tears trickled down his face.

They had raised the roof so that nothing would impede such a beautiful parabola, the yellow ball like a rising sun that would set on a season.

This story ran on page D5 of the Boston Globe on 11/18/2002.
© Copyright 2002 Globe Newspaper Company.


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HEWITT HERE TO STAY
By Andy Schooler
Sporting Life

Plenty more will be written over the next six weeks about the sporting excellence of the Australians.

Those redoubtable Aussies are already in the box seat in the Ashes series, but this weekend it was their star tennis player Lleyton Hewitt who was stealing the limelight.

Not only does the 21-year-old possess immense talent, but what has really pushed Hewitt to the heights of the game is his relentless fighting spirit.

All the evidence of that was on show in Shanghai on Sunday when the Wimbledon champion produced a remarkable victory in the Masters Cup final against Juan Carlos Ferrero.

Hewitt was undoubtedly not at his best in this clash, one he was expected to win, and admitted he was fortunate to forge a two-set lead.

And when the Spaniard surged back with Hewitt tiring, it looked as if victory was his for the taking.

But despite looking exhausted - Hewitt had played a series of tough matches earlier in the week - somehow those fighting qualities rose to the surface in one final effort.

From 1-3 down in the final set, Hewitt blasted his way out of trouble, winning five of the next six games to pull off another remarkable triumph.

It is this fighting spirit which divides the great players from the good ones.

It is often said that Marat Safin is the most talented player on the ATP Tour, yet he continually lets himself down with his less-than-blinkered focus and attitude.

Andre Agassi had similar problems early in his career, regularly being accused of 'tanking' when in trouble, and it was only after he sorted this aspect out that he rose to the top of the world rankings.

In contrast to Hewitt's grit and determination, some questions will inevitably be asked about Ferrero.

To be fair to him, most players would feel the pace of a four-hour, five-set marathon, but his ability to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory will bug him for some time.

As well as Hewitt played in those closing stages, Ferrero also produced too many errors.

It was reminiscent, albeit in a smaller way, of his start to the French Open final against Albert Costa when he won just one game in the first two sets having started as favourite.

Despite clearly having improved on a hardcourt, his big-match temperament looks questionable and may prevent him from going on to challenge at the peak of the rankings.

That is not a problem Hewitt has to worry about.

He rules the roost once again, ending the season as world number one for a second year in a row.

This is despite him suffering from chickenpox early in the season and battling a mystery virus for much of the year.

Many pundits have tipped the young Aussie to burn himself out, such is his never-say-die, cover-all-the-court style of play.

Certainly that time has yet to arrive.

Already Hewitt is an odds-on favourite to top the tree in 2003, and as long as his huge heart continues to want success, it is hard to see him relinquishing his grip on the game.


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Hewitt Prepares to Rest After Conquering World Again
Mon Nov 18, 9:31 PM ET

ADELAIDE (Reuters) - Australia's Lleyton Hewitt, who retained his year-end world number one ranking in China last week, arrived home on Tuesday saying he was looking forward to some rest ahead of the Australian Open in January.

"I'll just put my feet up and catch up with a few mates," Hewitt told a news conference at Adelaide airport.

"Yeah, not do a hell of a lot basically, just try and relax and sort of just get the mind and body ready for the Australian Open."

The slightly-built 21-year-old, who weighs 68 kilograms, said he had not felt fully fit for several months and his ability to overcome a viral complaint was not helped by constant international travel.

Hewitt arrived in Adelaide flanked by his girlfriend, Belgian player Kim Clijsters, who upset world number one Serena Williams to win the WTA Championships in Los Angeles earlier this month.

Hewitt won his second Tennis Masters Cup with victory over Spain's Juan Carlos Ferrero in Shanghai on Sunday after clinching the season-ending world number one ranking earlier in the tournament.

Australia's former Davis Cup captain and triple Wimbledon champion John Newcombe said early success had not blunted Hewitt's drive to achieve more in the sport.

"Given good health, there is no reason why he can't end up with five to eight grand slam tournaments," Newcombe was quoted as saying in Melbourne's Herald Sun newspaper on Tuesday.

Hewitt, the reigning Wimbledon champion and the winner of the 2001 U.S. Open, is aiming in January to become the first home player to win the Australian Open men's singles crown since Mark Edmondson in 1976.

He went into this year's Australian Open battling chicken pox and lost in the first round to Spain's Alberto Martin.


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He'd play tennis for nothing, says Hewitt

Mon Nov 18,10:52 PM ET
AP

ADELAIADE, Australia - Lleyton Hewitt earned nearly US$15 million playing tennis this season, but says he'd do it all for nothing.

Returning to his home town on Tuesday after retaining the season-end No.1 ranking and successfully defending the Masters Cup title in Shanghai, Hewitt said it was his love of the game and his competitive spirit that drove him.

"It's obviously great that I'm getting fantastic money playing and going out there and doing something I love," he said. "But I'd be playing if there was no money.

"It's like Davis Cup, there's not much money playing Davis Cup. When I set my schedule at the start of the year Davis Cup is the first thing that I write down.

"So I'm not playing tennis for the money. I just love going out there and competing."

The 21-year-old Hewitt earned more than $US3 million in prize money plus nearly US$750,000 as a bonus for finishing No. 1. The rest of the money came from endorsements.

Hewitt said he had no plans to base himself anywhere other than Adelaide.

"I enjoy coming home, it's as simple as that," he said. "I don't get to do it as often as I'd like to but at the end of the day there's no place like home.

"If I have a few weeks off then I enjoy, even though it's a long flight, coming back."
No doubt about it

by Richard Hinds
November 16 2002
www.smh.com.au

Nothing ever seems to come easily to Lleyton Hewitt. So it does not seem quite right that the game's berserk warrior was in the change rooms having his feet and toes bandaged when an Andre Agassi double-fault ensured he would retain the tennis world's No1 ranking.

However, at the end of a season in which Hewitt has defied health problems, a coach sacking controversy, the spectre of second-year blues, a public spat with the Association of Tennis Professionals, the earnest pursuit of one of the greatest players of all time and the dire predictions of those who dubbed him a mere "caretaker No 1", few would say the 21-year-old did not deserve a break.

It came when Agassi, who needed to win the current Tennis Masters Cup in Shanghai to have any hope of taking the top spot from Hewitt, was eliminated in the round-robin stage after losing a tense third-set tie-breaker to Spaniard Juan Carlos Ferrero.

That meant rather than fret about a potential Spanish conspiracy between Carlos Moya and Albert Costa that could cost him a place in the tournament's semi-finals, Hewitt could instead celebrate his extraordinary feat. Hewitt being Hewitt, he did that by grinding out a typically gutsy 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 victory over Russian Marat Safin, a performance that helped explain how this under-sized, overcharged kid from Adelaide had managed to plant his flag at the summit last year and keep it waving proudly for 12 months.

While others would be reaching for the champagne, Hewitt was still out there proving himself. Defying the critics. Making sure everyone knew this was no fluke.

"I think that was probably the driving force, to really believe in yourself and show why you are number one in the world," he said.


Hewitt was talking about his victory over Safin. But the statement also betrays the relentless motivation behind his unexpected Wimbledon triumph and the 57 victories and four titles he had ground out this year.

For as long as this racquet-wielding Energiser bunny takes to the court, he will be trying to prove something to someone. But so impressive are his achievements there are precious few critics left to defy. Hewitt's name now stands beside Jimmy Connors, Bjorn Borg, John McEnroe, Ivan Lendl, Stefan Edberg and Pete Sampras as one of just seven players to retain the year-end No1 spot since the rankings began in 1973. He is the first since Sampras in 1998 to go back-to-back.

Yet it once seemed almost absurd to think that the early version of Hewitt - Bart Simpson with a Yonex - would join such elite company. To everyone, that is, but Hewitt and his fiercely protective circle.

John Alexander recalls the comments of former English Davis Cup captain John Lloyd. "Lleyton was about 15 at the time and, when asked about him, Lloyd said he didn't think he had the right sort of game to win the slams. I remember just how greatly Lleyton took exception to those comments even at that early age."

Last year, some people placed an asterisk beside Hewitt's No 1 ranking. With Sampras and Agassi in their athletic dotage and other champions yet to emerge, it was said Hewitt was merely the best of a mediocre lot.

"The Americans, particularly, said he was a caretaker No1," says Davis Cup coach Wally Masur. "But to do this two years in a row is an outstanding performance. [Mats] Wilander and even Jim Courier got to No1 and it blew their minds. They had nowhere to go and it was all downhill. To get to No1 and keep improving is an indication of the incredible demands he puts on himself."

Masur makes his comments as one of the converted.

"When I first saw him I thought, 'He's not real big but he tries his tail off'. I didn't think of him as a world No1. But when you get to know Lleyton you learn never to put a ceiling on him because every time someone does that he breaks through it."

Hewitt said he had not expected to retain the No1 position and was shattered after succumbing to chickenpox and losing in the first round of the Australian Open.

"If you were to tell me end of January that I was going to be sitting here holding this trophy I probably would have laughed the way that I was feeling at that time," he said. "That's probably the biggest or the most special thing about winning it again this year, to bounce back after the chickenpox at the start of the year."

Like a prestige car owner comparing his Porsche with his Ferrari, Hewitt can now reflect on which of his year-end No 1 rankings he enjoyed most. Right now, the
first still seems the most satisfying.

"Getting it, being the youngest ever and there's just something about getting to No1 the first time, I believe, just to say as the years go by that you got to the pinnacle of your sport," he said. "I know Sampras has said a lot of the time that it's a lot harder to hold the No1 position and there's no doubt about that. It's bloody tough. But I think this has been fantastic and it's been special in a lot of ways."

Hewitt has not only survived the replacement of former coach Darren Cahill with Jason Stoltenberg, he has battled ill-health. He says he has not felt 100 per cent all year and was recently forced to withdraw from a tournament in Madrid with the No1 ranking on the line.

"I guess I should thank my professor back in Sydney [Pat Rafter]," he said. "He promised me it would all be all right when I pulled out of Madrid - and I didn't want to - and that, in the end, paid off."

Given his exhausting year, Australia's absence from the Davis Cup final is something of a blessing as Hewitt prepares for his next great challenge.

"Obviously the Australian Open would be one of my biggest dreams, to win at Melbourne Park," he says. "I haven't even passed the round of 16 yet."

Naturally there will still be some observers who believe the task of becoming the first local winner since Mark Edmondson in 1976 is beyond Hewitt. And that will only improve his chances

Rosewall urges Hewitt to lift his game
October 24 2002
By Linda Pearce

Former Australian great Ken Rosewall has urged Lleyton Hewitt to embrace the ambassadorial responsibilities of the world No. 1 ranking, and suggested he failed to appreciate the debt owed by present players to the men's governing body, the ATP.

Hewitt has threatened to sue the ATP over a fine of almost $200,000 imposed after he failed to fulfil a media obligation at the Cincinnati Masters in early August.

The 21-year-old Wimbledon champion described the ATP as a "circus", and accused its officials of lying over the details of the interview controversy, while threatening to cut the number of tour events he played next year to concentrate on the grand slam and Davis Cup events run by the International Tennis Federation.

While emphasising his admiration for what Hewitt had achieved on-court, the competitive example he set for younger Australians and his dedication to Davis Cup duty, Rosewall said today's multi-million tournament purses would not exist had the players not taken a leadership role in the game.

"I think the ATP has done great things for men's tennis, and I know there's always people who criticise the ATP - one particular person I can think of - but heaven knows why, because without the ATP, they wouldn't be playing for the kind of money that they're playing for now," said Rosewall, who was involved in the formation of the ATP in 1972 under the leadership of American Jack Kramer.

"I don't want to get in the middle of all this, but I'd say Lleyton, as a grand slam champion, has got to understand his position in the game and understand what the ATP have done for the game, the history of the game, since they've been operating, and I would think overall there's been many more benefits than the other way around."

The winner of eight grand slam singles titles, Rosewall said he was also concerned about Hewitt's strained media relations, and had noted recent comments to that effect by fellow Australians Wayne Arthurs and Mark Philippoussis.

"When I saw comments in the paper, especially from Wayne, who's pretty conservative, saying that Lleyton should change his attitude towards the press, I thought, 'Well, Lleyton must have done something pretty wrong'.

"That's a shame. I think he's got to recognise his position in tennis, and there certainly is much more pressure being the No. 1 player in the world. But everybody has gone through it from time to time . . .

"If you look at (Pete) Sampras and (Andre) Agassi, they're two players who have handled it as well as anybody else. They might have their objections to some things, but they've handled it nicely.

"I think that somewhere along the line, Lleyton's management or family might have over-reacted, because the ATP with its formation many years ago have worked hard for the benefit of men's tennis, and when they started running their own circuit, the prizemoney went up considerably."

Despite the financial difficulties associated with the collapse of marketing company ISL and the associated $1.2 billion deal over 10 years, the ATP will stage 66 tournaments in 31 countries this year, with a combined purse of $100 million.

Hewitt has won more than $15 million in career prizemoney, and several times that amount in sponsorships and appearance fees.

This is not the first time Rosewall has offered advice to the flag-bearer of the present generation.

After Hewitt described the Australian public as "stupid" during a petulant display at Memorial Drive, Adelaide, in 2000, Rosewall suggested the teenager should learn to win with dignity.

Hewitt, who has appealed against the Cincinnati fine, has had a free ride into the second round of the Stockholm Open after his scheduled opponent, Swede Thomas Enqvist, pulled out with a shoulder injury.