Scud defends mate
June 26, 2003

MARK Philippoussis last night leapt to Lleyton Hewitt's defence, quelling the extraordinary fallout from the world champion's first-round Wimbledon failure.

"There's a lot of pressure on the kid," Philippoussis said after cruising through the first round himself.

"I expected Lleyton to win that match, but it [the defeat] happens. He was playing great in practice and I thought he was going to have a good tournament.

"It just goes to show there are no easy matches out there on the men's tour. I honestly thought he was going to cruise through that match.

"It's tough to say you are always going to win.

"How can you back up not losing a single match on grass like he did at Queen's and Wimbledon last year?

"Anyone can beat anyone on any given day, regardless of the rankings.

"Lleyton's a great player, he's shown that for a long time, but these things happen."

Davis Cup teammates Philippoussis, 26, and Hewitt, 22, not only practise together regularly, but occasionally play doubles to prepare for national duty.

The pair play golf together and Philippoussis can empathise with the pressure placed on the young South Australian, who has been feted as world champion for the past two years after 70 weeks at No. 1.

Philippoussis found it tough to flourish after he was saddled with enormous expectation in the wake of his blinding third-round thrashing of then world No. 1 Pete Sampras at the Australian Open in 1996.

Hewitt, winner of 19 titles, including two majors before his 22nd birthday, has added two singles titles to his haul this year.

As respectable as Hewitt's season has been ¨C 27 wins from 35 matches ¨C he is said to be in a slump, a notion he rejects.

The US Open and Wimbledon winner has also dismissed theories his recent split from coach Jason Stoltenberg and a $2.5 million lawsuit against the ATP distracted him from his All-England Club defence.

Stunned by Hewitt's elimination and chastened after being banished to an outside court for his first-round win, Philippoussis is feeling the hunger ahead of his second-round clash with French qualifier Cyril Saulnier.

Elated after a stylish 6-3 4-6 6-3 6-2 success over Argentine Mariano Zabaleta, unseeded Philippoussis was delighted to learn his potential second-round opponent Xavier Malisse, the 14th seed and last season's semi-finalist, had been rolled 6-4 6-3 6-2 by 125th-ranked Saulnier.

"Again it shows you can't call any men's matches," Philippoussis said, alluding to Hewitt's demise.

"To have beaten Xavier with that score, he [Saulnier] must be playing really well.

"He's come through qualifying, he's now got four matches under his belt on grass and you saw what happened with Lleyton and [Ivo] Karlovic. I thought Lleyton was going to win that match easily.

"It shows anything can happen in men's tennis. It's not like women's tennis, where you can call some of the matches."

The Daily Telegraph

Time to leave war cabinet, go AWOL

Patrick Smith
The Australian
June 25, 2003

LITTLE Lleyton Hewitt has always been at war.

A furious war, too. It has raged all of his 22 years. In sport it is camouflaged as competitive spirit, in business it is known as ambition. It brings both rewards and irritations. But it is war all right.

Little Lleyton's campaign is not one of cunning or tactics. He has not read the great war books that teach plotting and planning. He simply marches forwards. Forwards, always forwards.

His small war cabinet is like-minded. They march about with bazookas and bombs. Stilettos are for slicing bread.

They fight the opposition wherever they find it, even sense it, and they often see it and sense where others see only friends. Little Lleyton never ambushes anyone.

He seeks you out under bushes, in caves, under rocks. He has never seen anything but the whites of other eyes.

Such aggression has brought fame – headlines at least because there is a difference – and fortune. He has won battles around the world. He won major campaigns in New York in 2001 and London last year.

The war is so constant and so intense, lieutenants are easily found but hard to hold.

Darren Cahill relieved himself of duty as coach not long after the great siege of Flushing Meadow.

His replacement, Jason Stoltenberg, quit ranks before the battle of Wimbledon. As for reasons why, well, both men have given name, rank and serial number only.

Hewitt is now coached by Roger Rasheed, a man who is more famous for his commentary as a ground announcer at Port Adelaide games in the AFL. Cahill is now guiding Andre Agassi and Stoltenberg is a commentator with Channel Seven.

Watchers of Little Lleyton stirred uneasily at the French Open where the Australian lost to Spaniard Tommy Robredo.

Roland Garros presents rough terrain for a fighting unit like Little Lleyton. The ball ricochets around the stadium like bullets around a steel shed. It is easy to run out of ammunition.

When Little Lleyton is down two sets to love his short history tells us that we should never count him out.

He is more likely to win from there than lose. When he is up two sets to love then he is invincible. Or was. He lost to Robredo from that position and Stoltenberg suddenly felt the pull from his family back in Australia.

Now there is hope in enemy ranks. The South Australian can be beaten. And he can be beaten even when he holds the gun to your head. Click, click Tommy Robredo but the magazine was empty.

The rest of the world now thinks about attack and not defence, seizes upon Little Lleyton's weaknesses and frets not about his strengths.

Another Australian Wimbledon champion, Pat Cash, wrote that he thought Little Lleyton was vulnerable and something may be wrong in the Hewitt war bunker.

Just weeks out from Wimbledon is no time to change lieutenants. Others, too, felt the South Australian was not himself. He was certainly no longer the world No. 1. Agassi would soon assume that position.

The answer back in the bunker was to launch another attack. Find more enemies. Seek and destroy. After losing at Queen's – he had won the title for the three previous years – it was suggested to him in a media conference that the pressure of being defending champion was unsettling him. He simply scoffed.

It was put to him what Cash and others had written and said. They wouldn't know, said Little Lleyton. That's right, agreed the ground announcer.

Next Little Lleyton took his war to court. He sent men to the South Australian Supreme Court to sue the ATP for $1.5 million.

His men said that ATP officials defamed him when they fined him for not attending a compulsory media conference last year.

Worse, they had acted with malice for two years and, through an agent, tried to have him sign a form that agreed he had refused a drug test.

Hewitt had earlier appealed a decision to fine him for missing The fine was reduced at arbitration but not the decision that Hewitt was in the wrong. Back in the bunker the Hewitt war cabinet refused to think they could have erred. That Little Lleyton could not have his way.

The world's toughest fighter was suddenly engaged on too many fronts. The media, his opponents, courts. The world.

Stoltenberg admitted as much on the weekend. John Newcombe, who for years proudly wore the jungle greens of the Hewitt army, agreed.

Ashley Cooper, the Wimbledon champion in 1958, said it was time for Little Lleyton to desert. Go AWOL. Leave the war cabinet of dad Glynn and mum Cherilyn. A month ago this was treason. Death by disdain.

Little Lleyton is at war. As always. Now he appears at war with himself. That is a war he cannot win.

But one that Ivo Karlovic, 24 and ranked 203 in the world, did.


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C'mon is now 'how come?'

June 25 2003
By Richard Hinds
London
Linda Pearce

A change of coach, the obsessive attention of his parents, poor scouting, lack of fitness, an impending law suit against the ATP and even the decision to stay and watch girlfriend Kim Clijsters play the final of the French Open were all being blamed yesterday as the tennis world grappled with Lleyton Hewitt's upset defeat at Wimbledon.

It was apparent after he lost in the third round of the French Open, and in his relatively poor form in a lead-up event at the Queen's Club, that Hewitt was not in top shape to defend his title.

But his 1-6, 7-6 (7-5), 6-3, 6-4 defeat by the 203rd-ranked Croatian qualifier Ivo Karlovic has caused some to question whether the career of Hewitt, whose ranking has slipped to No. 4, has gone off the rails.

While Hewitt has continually maintained that new coach Roger Rasheed was the right man to guide him, the split with coach Jason Stoltenberg just four weeks before Wimbledon now seems particularly badly timed.

Yesterday, Stoltenberg indicated for the first time that there might have been more to his split with the former world No. 1 than the family reasons previously cited. "Obviously, when people split, there's reasons for splitting, and, you know, there's probably more to the story than what's come out. But I'm going to leave it at that," he said.

The odd timing of Stoltenberg's decision, only a fortnight before the world's biggest tournament, always suggested as much, although both player and coach have insisted that the split was amicable.

Another former Hewitt coach, Darren Cahill, refused to elaborate publicly on his decision to quit the demanding position just over 18 months ago, although differences with Hewitt's father, Glynn, have been widely accepted as the primary reason.

Stoltenberg was at his Melbourne home when Hewitt was beaten by Karlovic in what has been hailed as the biggest opening-day upset at Wimbledon in 36 years.

"I think the Lleyton of old would (have) sort of stepped up and taken those opportunities last night but I think he has been No. 1 for quite a while - about 18 months - and he has just lost the No. 1 ranking," Stoltenberg told radio 2UE.

When approached outside his home yesterday, Stoltenberg would not elaborate on yesterday's radio interview, organised several days before Hewitt's earlier-than-expected exit from the tournament.

Last week, Stoltenberg had warned that Hewitt's lawsuit against the ATP was a potential distraction on the eve of his Wimbledon defence. But after his Wimbledon loss, Hewitt shrugged off suggestions that either the split with the coach or the lawsuit had been a factor. "Not at all," he said.

At 22, Hewitt has maintained a fiercely protective and loyal group of followers led by his parents Glynn and Cherilyn, who attend all his matches. Before Wimbledon, he spoke of how comforting it was to have those familiar faces around.

But 1958 Wimbledon champion Ashley Cooper said it might be time for Hewitt to go it alone. "I think it's too much of a pressure cooker," he said. "The fact that his mother and father travel with him constantly and are even present when he practises, I think . . . there's a build-up of tension there. I, quite frankly, would like to see him loosen the family strings a bit now and become his own man."

While overwhelmed by the tall Croat in the final stages of his match, Hewitt denied suggestions he had taken his little-known opponent too lightly. The Australian watched Karlovic practise briefly last Saturday, with some observers suggesting Karlovic had started shaking when he saw Hewitt nearby.

"I don't think I could have done much more," said Hewitt. "He didn't have any different secrets that I wasn't aware of."

While Hewitt says he is not suffering from the viruses that have plagued him in recent years, some recent opponents have suggested that his stamina is not what it was.

Always a fast starter, Hewitt has now twice been reigned in over the five sets of a grand slam event - in Paris after leading Tommy Robredo two sets to love and at Wimbledon after easily winning the first set against Karlovic and having several chances to break serve in the second.

Having lost to Younes El Aynaoui at the Australian Open, Hewitt has not been beyond the fourth round of a grand slam tournament this year and his world ranking could dip as low as No. 5 after Wimbledon.

Clijsters said she had not been surprised by Hewitt's defeat at Wimbledon. "I would love him to win but . . . there are 100 other players who also want to win," she said. "It's not nice for him to go through this now but he'll get over it."

Hewitt also gained strong support from Davis Cup captain John Fitzgerald. "It's only a matter of four or five results," he said. "It's not the year, it's not his career or anything.

"This one hurts him a bit. Great players hate losing and he won't enjoy this. He'll find a way to learn from it."

Hewitt's first coach, Peter Smith, also said it was too early to suggest Hewitt was in a slump. "It was just a match-up that wasn't particularly in Lleyton's favour," he said. "I hope we don't reach that stage where if Lleyton has a minor hiccup, we start looking for all sorts of reasons."


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Questions after Hewitt's tumble

June 25 2003
By Staff reporters
The Age

After one of Wimbledon's most spectacular falls from grace, now the questions. Was he simply outplayed? Or is something seriously amiss with Lleyton Hewitt?

Hours after the stunning first-round collapse of his Wimbledon title defence, advice was coming in faster than the booming forehand of his conqueror, Croatian qualifier Ivo Karlovic.

Ashley Cooper, the 1958 Wimbledon champion, implored Hewitt to loosen ties with his parents, Glynn and Cherilyn, and spend more time with Belgian girlfriend Kim Clijsters.

"His mother and father travel with him constantly, and are even present when he practises. I think. . . there's a buildup of tension there," Cooper said. "I think that if Lleyton gets away from the family a bit and gets influenced by Kim a bit more, I think he might settle down."

But Pat Cash was adamant that Hewitt senior served as a soothing influence on his son, whose world tennis ranking is set to drop from 2 to 4 following the 1-6, 7-6 (7-5), 6-3, 6-4 loss to Karlovic, ranked 203 in the world.

"I believe that probably 90 per cent of parents are detrimental to their kids' careers," said Cash, the 1987 Wimbledon champion. "Lleyton is. . . one of the lucky ones." Australia's former Davis Cup captain John Fitzgerald said Hewitt was simply experiencing the same lull that most elite sportsmen go through after staying at the top for so long. "I think he still has the hunger," he said. "It's not easy to remain at the top."

John McEnroe, commentating for the BBC, was another to suggest all was not right with Hewitt. "I don't know what the problem is," he said. "But there is definitely something going on in that camp."

The defeat made Hewitt only the second men's champion since the tournament's inception in 1877 to bow out in the first round, emulating the unfortunate Manolo Santana, who fell to American Charlie Pasarell in the first round in 1967.

But there were no excuses from the Australian, who was undone by uncharacteristic lapses on the big points. Presented with 13 break points, he managed to claim only three in the match.

"I was seeing the ball well," he said. "I could have been 6-1, 4-0 up. But I just didn't take my chances. I gave him those chances, and to his credit he picked up. He got better and better as the match went on."

Karlovic, the 2.08-metre qualifier admitted he was "completely scared" in the first set. "But afterwards I thought I could beat him, I thought I could play better, and I began to believe in myself in the third set," he said. "I enjoyed it."

Karlovic revealed he had watched Hewitt play at the Queen's tournament before Wimbledon, and been encouraged by what he had seen. "I saw him playing last week, and he didn't play anything special."

Hewitt's childhood tennis coach, Peter Smith, was not alarmed, saying his former protege played well, but Karlovic was just too good on the day.

He hoped Australians would not seek to cut Hewitt down as Britons had done with Tim Henman when the British champ began to falter.

"I hope we don't reach that stage in Australia where if Lleyton has a minor hiccup now and then, which just proves he's human, that we start looking for all sorts of reasons for why that is," he said.

"I think yesterday he just played a guy who played too well on the day."

- with AAP


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Hewitt turns up the pressure too far

MIKE GIBSON
COMMENT, Daily Telegraph
25jun03

PRESSURE is just something that you place upon yourself. Who said that? Hey Eddie, I'll call a friend.

It's one of those sporting homilies that has been around for yonks.

And, like most of them, it's pretty close to the mark.

Some athletes thrive on pressure. Others fall apart. The ability to handle it is one of those qualities that sorts out the champions from the chaff.

Yesterday at Wimbledon, Lleyton Hewitt cracked under the pressure.

Just like he said, he failed to take his chances.

Normally, Hewitt rises to the occasion. Drop him a short one, give him an opening, and he's on to it like Rod Stewart on a blonde.

But yesterday he was unable to capitalise on his opportunities, as a man built like a giraffe went on to unload 18 aces and blow him off centre court.

But what was Hewitt thinking in his lead-up to Wimbledon?

If ever a defending champion placed an intolerable burden on himself, if ever a top seed went out of his way to make his task almost impossible, it was Hewitt in his cockamamie preparation for the world's leading tournament.

Last month, after being bundled out in round three of the French Open, he parted company with his coach Jason Stoltenberg.

Last week, after being knocked out in the quarter-finals at Queens, he took out a lawsuit against the ATP.

What happened between Hewitt and his coach remains a matter which neither has so far chosen to publicly discuss.

Suffice to say that close observers find it difficult to accept that a man of Stoltenberg's professionalism and character – the same coach who guided Hewitt to victory last year – would have walked out on the eve of Wimbledon unless something had gone irreparably amiss.

The lawsuit?

Hewitt's obsessive conviction that the ATP is out to get him not only includes his resentment at being fined for allegedly refusing to give an interview.

He has now gone on to claim that the ATP plotted to trick him into signing papers that would have caused him to be suspended for breaching the tour's drug code.

What next?

Have they been spiking his Gatorade? Tying his tennis shoes together? Hiding his racquets?

So here we have a guy who has just lost his coach, launched legal proceedings against the ruling body on the tour and is struggling to find form, carting all this baggage into the Wimbledon fortnight.

And he says it made no difference to what happened on day one.

For years now, since he was a kid, Hewitt has fed off the adrenalin surge that he manufactures by convincing himself that the whole world is against him.

He has given us the impression that here is a young man who gets angry just cleaning his teeth.

Wearing his cap back to front, Hewitt's attitude – this ploy of placing himself under the gun to fire himself up – has served him well.

But this time, it seems, he turned up the heat too high.

He has put himself under such pressure that, instead of being able to feed off it, what has happened was that it turned around and swallowed him up.

Hewitt has learned the old lesson.

The only thing harder than getting to the top is staying there.

But if he is going to regain that No. 1 spot, maybe he should consider this.

The way to start beating up on opponents again is to stop beating up on yourself.


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Hewitt calm in storm

25jun03
Daily Telegraph

IN the aftermath of the biggest Wimbledon upset in history, Lleyton Hewitt was surprisingly calm.

He was even mature as the shockwaves of the monumental loss to Croat qualifier Ivo Karlovic continued to reverberate around the tennis world.

Hewitt was refusing to be distracted from his pre-season goals of lifting another grand slam crown and Australian Davis Cup victory.

But even though he attempted to focus on the future it was his preparations and off-court decision-making which came under the microscope.

"It's very hard at the moment to try and say you're going to try and learn something from it, but hopefully I can," Hewitt said.

"When I look back at it, [I'll] probably have a bit clearer mind, see where things went wrong and where hopefully I can improve for the future.

"At the moment, it's pretty disappointing."

If any context on the impact of the loss was needed, it could be found in the reaction of former Wimbledon champions.

"To say it was unbelievably shocking would be an understatement," John McEnroe said. "Lleyton's not playing with the same fire as last year.

"Not in my wildest dreams did I think he would lose to a qualifier in the first round at Wimbledon."

Australia's 1987 Wimbledon champion Pat Cash described Karlovic's serve as being so unusual it was almost as if the journeyman Croat was left-handed.

"If Lleyton Hewitt can't get his serve back, what chance does anyone else have?" Cash said.

"It was not as though Lleyton played badly. Karlovic just served out of his brain. This would have to be the biggest upset at Wimbledon that I can remember. I can't ever remember a qualifier beating the defending champion."

Hewitt lamented a host of missed opportunities. He converted just three of the 13 points 208cm Karlovic offered and dropped serve twice to lose a match he had anticipated for a year.

Despite his ranking dropping from No. 1 to No. 4, Hewitt plans to keep a light schedule to protect himself against further health problems.

"I came into Wimbledon with the same intensity as last year," Hewitt said.

"I was happy with the way I was hitting the ball, I just didn't take my chances."

"My preparation for Wimbledon was good," he said. "Over the past week and a half, I was really happy with the way I was hitting the ball."

Hewitt's season has been fractured by illness and the need to rest his wiry frame on a regular basis.

He starred on the US hardcourt swing with wins in Indian Wells and Scottsdale, suffered food poisoning in Miami and then had to rest after leading Australia to Davis Cup victory over Sweden because of the mystery viral problem which affects his breathing.

"I don't know what I'm gonna do just yet," Hewitt said. "I'm playing Los Angeles and I've got two other Masters series events before the US Open. That's the only major left this season now and this could make me even more hungry to do well there."

There is now a growing sense Hewitt is grappling with the expectation of consistently performing to the olympian level he has established over the first five seasons of his career.

He has not given up hope of again excelling at Flushing Meadow, where he has reached at least the semi-finals for the past three years.

"I've had some of my best results there and it's a place I'm familiar with," he said.

Hewitt's main goal is Davis Cup and he is already focusing on Australia's semi-final tie with Switzerland in Melbourne in September ahead of a possible home final against either Spain or Argentina in November.

Hewitt's disappointing performances in the Australian and French Open, topped by his dramatic fall from grace at Wimbledon, has Hewitt facing accusations he is a diminished force.

"I came into Wimbledon with the same intensity as last year," Hewitt said.

"I was happy with the way I was hitting the ball, I just didn't take my chances."

Hewitt ridiculed suggestions his new coach Roger Rasheed was responsible for Monday's failure against Karlovic.

"My preparation for Wimbledon was good," he said. "Over the past week and a half, I was really happy with the way I was hitting the ball."

Hewitt's season has been fractured by illness and the need to rest his wiry frame on a regular basis.

He starred on the US hardcourt swing with wins in Indian Wells and Scottsdale, suffered food poisoning in Miami and then had to rest after leading Australia to Davis Cup victory over Sweden because of the chronic respiratory problems which affect his breathing and his performance.

"I don't know what I'm gonna do just yet," Hewitt said. "I'm playing Los Angeles and I've got two other Masters series events before the US Open. That's the only major left this season now and this could make me even more hungry to do well there."

There is now a growing sense Hewitt is grappling with the expectation of consistently performing to the olympian level he has established over the first five seasons of his career.

He has not given up hope of again excelling at Flushing Meadow, where he has reached at least the semi-finals for the past three years.

"I've had some of my best results there and it's a place I'm familiar with," he said.

Hewitt's main goal now is Davis Cup and he is already focusing on Australia's semi-final tie with Switzerland in Melbourne in September ahead of a possible home final against either Spain or Argentina in November

Lleyton tendencies

June 25 2003
Sydney Morning Herald

The role played by parents in the development of their children as sporting champions is well understood. Not so well appreciated are the youngsters' difficulties in breaking family ties. Philip Derriman reports.

The big sports question yesterday was how Lleyton Hewitt came to be eliminated in the first round of the Wimbledon tournament. Was it simply that his Croatian opponent, Ivo Karlovic, was too good for him on the day? Or did it have something to do with off-court issues weighing on his mind, such as his much publicised defamation action against the Association of Tennis Professionals, the recent split with his coach, Jason Stoltenberg, or maybe the parental control which his parents, Glynn and Cherilyn Hewitt, are said to exercise over him.

Lately, the influence that parents have over young sporting champions has become a matter of contention. Invariably, it has been portrayed in a negative light, most notably in the case of the tennis player Jelena Dokic and her unconventional father, Damir. But is it really such a bad thing for parents to remain a dominant presence in the lives of sporting offspring? The media might like to poke fun at it and the sportspeople themselves might occasionally be embarrassed by it, but the record contains any number of examples of sportspeople whose parents guided them to the top and then helped to keep them there.

As it happens, the best known of these have been tennis players, probably because of the huge amount of money on offer in the sport. Parents see the millions rolling in and don't trust anybody but themselves to protect their son's or daughter's interests. It is also a fact that parents are more visible in tennis than in most other sports, if only because the arena is so confined. They cannot escape the television cameras.

Jennifer Capriati, the Williams sisters, Venus and Serena, Mark Philippoussis, Mary Pierce, Steffi Graf, Pat Cash (his father was his manager), Dokic and, of course, Hewitt, who, it is worth remembering, is only 22, are just a few of the tennis stars whose parents have kept a firm hand on the rudder. There are conspicuous examples in other sports, too, the most conspicuous of all being the golfer Tiger Woods, whose father, Earl, never seemed more than a club length away while his son was making his way to the top.

But these are the successful examples. How many other sportspeople have had the opposite experience? How many have failed to make it because of the intrusion of their parents in their careers?

By and large, coaches and sports officials prefer that parents don't intrude. At the Australian Institute of Sport, for instance, the accepted view is that, beyond a certain age (around mid- to late-teens in most sports), the less parents are involved in their children's careers the better. The reasoning here is that young sportspeople will ultimately perform better if they are mentally and emotionally independent. Conversely, if they remain under their parents' thumbs the danger is that it will stifle their development into maturity.

Jeff Bond, head of the psychology department at the AIS, knows of a case of a young, elite tennis player who could not bear his father to be anywhere near the court while he was playing. He implored his father to stay away, but the father kept sneaking in to watch. Somehow, the son developed a sixth sense that alerted him to his father's presence, even if he could not see him. Bond recalls: "The father couldn't help himself. He'd be peeking around some corner or other, and the tennis player would sense he was there and would go nuts. He'd say, 'My old man is here somewhere - get him away."'

Parents can have the opposite effect, of course. The fact that they're in the grandstand or on the sideline watching can inspire their offspring to perform better. The psychology here is simple enough. Such offspring have an intense desire to make their parents proud, so they are motivated to turn in a great performance while their parents are watching. This is said to be fairly common among leading sportspeople.

Wendell Sailor, rugby league's convert to union, is one example. He wrote recently, "Pleasing my father and making him proud of me was one of my main motivations in getting to the top in football." Before his father died in 2001, Sailor had decided that if he ever made the Australian team he would fly his father to every match, whether in Australia, New Zealand, South Africa or Europe.

But most sportspeople prefer their parents to keep their distance and not interfere. Bond says: "It is probably one of the great sources of stress discussed by athletes - that is, the presence of parents. It comes up in discussion quite regularly. Even if from afar, parents are still at the back of the mind of sportspeople when they perform, and the effect is exacerbated when the parents are closely involved in their children's careers. Everyone wants to please their parents, even if they don't admit it, and a lot of athletes are pressured by that - you know, they are pressured by the fear of failing in front of their parents. On the other hand, some athletes are highly motivated by it. So it's a two-edged sword."

By all accounts, the worst feature of parental interference is the disruption it can have on their children's relations with coaches and officials. Parents who antagonise coaches are a common problem both at the junior level and at the elite level - including, in particular, at the elite level in tennis.

The AIS, too, has had numerous instances of parents who have tried to interfere in the way their children are being coached. In effect, these parents have wanted to tell the coaches - all of whom are internationally qualified - how to coach.

Then there are the parents who abuse referees from the sideline at junior football matches. This is said to be a growing problem and one which is worrying officials, because it has been blamed for a shortage of referees. Such a shortage would be easy enough to understand. Why would any referee want to give up several hours of this or her leisure time at weekends for no thanks and no reward - just the abuse of parents?

"All parents want their kids to do well and all parents want to protect them, so it's understandable that parents will sometimes get ugly, although that's no excuse for it," says Bond.

"The kids themselves can't tell the parents to nick off. It's up to the parents themselves to decide whether they're helping or hindering. It's a fine judgement. The first question is when do you hand over responsibility to the athletes? The second question is when do you hand over control of the athlete's affairs to a management company or some other professional? They're tough decisions. Sometimes parents get it right and sometimes they get it wrong."

At least, the problem is not new. Seventy years ago the parents of the Australian batsman Stan McCabe came down to Sydney from their home at Grenfell to watch their son bat against England's fearsome bodyline bowlers. Before he went out to bat, McCabe said to his father, "If I happen to get hit out there, keep Mum from jumping the fence."


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Champions divided: should Hewitt's loving parents run along and play?

By Alex Brown
June 25 2003
Sydney Morning Herald

Steadying influence or overbearing presence? Past Australian Wimbledon champions are divided over the role Lleyton Hewitt's parents, Glynn and Cherilyn, have played in his form slide - marked by Monday's shock first-round loss to a 203rd-ranked Croatian qualifier at the All England Club.

Ashley Cooper, winner of the 1958 crown, implored Hewitt, 22, to loosen ties with his parents and spend more time with his Belgian girlfriend, Kim Clijsters.

But Pat Cash and John Newcombe are adamant Hewitt senior is a soothing influence on his son - now ranked No. 4 thanks to Ivo Karlovic.

"I believe that probably 90 per cent of parents are detrimental to their kids' careers," Cash said. "Lleyton is . . . one of the lucky ones. But a lot of parents get too involved . . .

Lleyton obviously likes having them there."

But Cooper told the ABC: "I think it's too much of a pressure cooker. The fact that his mother and father travel with him constantly and are even present when he practices, I think . . . there's a build-up of tension there. I, quite frankly, would like to see him . . . become his own man."

Newcombe, speaking after Hewitt's third-round loss at the French Open three weeks ago, disagreed. "I never had a problem with Glynn during my time with the Davis Cup team. I don't think there are any problems there."

Last year Hewitt split with long-time mentor Darren Cahill, reportedly after a row between the coach and Glynn.


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Hewitt's lost his edge, says Cash

By Alex Brown and Richard Hinds in London
June 25 2003
Sydney Morning Herald

Evolution, according to Pat Cash, is a 200-centimetre-plus serve-volley specialist.

The 1987 Wimbledon champion believes men's professional tennis will be dominated by tall, athletic players - similar to Lleyton Hewitt's 209cm Wimbledon conqueror Ivo Karlovic - sending small, speedy players the way of the dinosaurs.

"The future of the game will be guys like Karlovic," Cash said from London. "You can't beat a guy who's 6-foot-10 and moves well. He just covers the net so well. I think you'll see more and more giants come out.

"Lleyton's quick, but he's never had a strong serve. For little guys to survive, they've got to be as fast as Lleyton. But it'll get gradually tougher for them when the big guys come through. How are you supposed to beat that? It's impossible."

To combat the next generation of giants, Cash believes Hewitt must vastly improve his strength, serve and speed around the court.

"Lleyton wins on guts and determination, and when things don't quite work out he doesn't have the most powerful game in the world," Cash said. "He relies on the ability to get one more ball back. That can only last for so long. He doesn't have the power of some players.

"Sometimes you lose the edge of being invincible. There are certain times in a player's career where they feel invincible and opponents play them that way. You ride that as long as you can until there's a flat patch. Some don't come back from that. But guys like Agassi and [Pete] Sampras have.

"In my opinion, he [Hewitt] needs to improve his serve. How he got to No.1 with a serve like that is a fantastic credit to his ability around the court. He has a very average serve. I think he will rebound."

A change of coach, the obsessive attention of his parents, poor scouting, lack of fitness, impending law action against the ATP and even the decision to stay and watch girlfriend Kim Clijsters play the final of the French Open were all being blamed yesterday as the tennis world grappled for reasons to explain Hewitt's 1-6, 7-6 (7-5), 6-3, 6-4 first-round defeat.

It was apparent after he lost in the third round of the French Open, and in his relatively poor play in a lead-up event at the Queen's Club, that Hewitt was not in top shape to defend his title. But his loss to the 203rd-ranked qualifier Karlovic has caused some to question whether the career of the former world No.1 has gone off the rails.

While Hewitt maintains that new coach Roger Rasheed is the right man to guide him, the split with former coach Jason Stoltenberg, which came just a month Wimbledon, now seems particularly badly timed.

Stoltenberg and Hewitt have both said their parting during the French Open was amicable. However, it is believed the popular coach was not always happy with the aggressive nature of the Hewitt camp.

"I think the Lleyton of old would [have] sort of stepped up and taken those opportunities . . . but I think he has been No.1 for quite a while - about 18 months and he has just lost the No.1 ranking," Stoltenberg told radio station 2UE. "Obviously, when people split there's reasons for splitting and there's probably more to the story than what has come out but I'm going to leave it at that."

Last week Stoltenberg had warned that Hewitt's legal action against the ATP was a potential distraction on the eve of his Wimbledon defence. However, after his loss on Monday, Hewitt shrugged off suggestions that either the split with the coach or the law suit had been a factor in his defeat. "Not at all," he said.

At 22, Hewitt has maintained a fiercely protective and loyal group of followers, led by his parents Glynn and Cherilyn, who attend all his matches. Before Wimbledon, he spoke of how comforting it was to have those familiar faces around.

However, 1958 Wimbledon champion Ashley Cooper said it might be time for Hewitt to go it alone.

"I think it's too much of a pressure-cooker," Cooper told ABC Radio. "The fact that his mother and father travel with him constantly and are even present when he practices, I think . . . there's a build up of tension there. I, quite frankly, would like to see him loosen the family strings a bit now and become his own man."

While clearly overwhelmed by the tall Croatian in the final stages of the match, Hewitt denied suggestions he had taken his little-known opponent too lightly.

"I don't think I could have done much more," he said. "He didn't have any different secrets that I wasn't aware of."

Clijsters said she had not been surprised by Hewitt's defeat.

"I would love him to win but . . . there are 100 other players who also want to win," she said.

Hewitt was spared no mercy by the English media. "Screwitt" said the back page headline on The Sun newspaper.


What they said

"I think the Lleyton of old would [have] sort of stepped up and taken those opportunities last night. Obviously when people split there's reasons for splitting and there's probably more to the story ... but I'm going to leave it at that." Former coach Jason Stoltenberg.

"This one [loss] hurts him a bit. Great players hate losing and he won't enjoy this." John Fitzgerald.

"I would love him to win but ... there are 100 other players who also want to win. It's not nice for him to go through this now but he'll get over it." Girlfriend Kim Clijsters.

"I don't know what the problem is. But there is definitely something going on in that camp." John McEnroe.

"I hope we don't reach that stage in Australia where if Lleyton has a minor hiccup now and then, which just proves he's human, that we start looking for all sorts of reasons for why that is." Childhood coach Peter Smith.

Hewitt's Fight to Keep Star Shining Bright
Tue Jun 24, 8:49 AM ET

By Ossian Shine

LONDON (Reuters) - Staring bleakly into thin air, Lleyton Hewitt cut a forlorn figure standing at the side of Center Court waiting for his conqueror Ivo Karlovic to leave the Wimbledon arena.

The most unexpected defeat in Wimbledon history left the top seed and 2002 champion stripped not only of his title but of his mental hold over the rest of the Tour.

His burning desire could be said to be cooling, his dominance on the wane.

A week ago he lost his world number one ranking to 33-year-old Andre Agassi.

That same week at Queen's Club he lost the Stella Artois Championships title he had held since 2000.

Monday's four-set defeat to 6 foot 10 inches (2.083 meter) Croatian Karlovic leaves him now saddled with the tag as the first defending men's champion in the Open Era to lose in the first round at Wimbledon.

He is now without a grand slam title, having lost in the fourth round of the Australian Open and the third round of the French Open last month.

Whichever way you look at it, the Australian has some serious thinking to do.

"MOST DISAPPOINTING"

"This has probably been the most disappointing of the three grand slams," the Australian said with customary candor.

"My grand slams so far have been disappointing if you look at the results. I hope I can learn from it.

"There's one major left, the U.S. Open, a place I am familiar with and have had good results there... the last three years I haven't lost before the semi-final.

"I have got to get this (loss) out of my mind as much as possible. But then again maybe it can make me more hungry for that last grand slam."

Certainly Hewitt appears to need something to sharpen his appetite.

The fist-pumping, vein-bulging embodiment of Australian sporting grit and determination appears a watered down version of himself.

The screams of 'c'mon' with which he once pushed himself on have all but disappeared. In short, Hewitt might have to dig deep if he is not to slide from the pinnacle of the sport.

"I don't really need to prove anything to myself," he said, subdued and in thought. "I don't feel I have to prove to anybody.

"My intensity level is very similar. Not a whole heap different."

HEAP DIFFERENT

But it doesn't need to be a whole heap different, just a smidgen below 100 percent for the Australian to falter.

There are no shortage of advisors queuing up to tell Hewitt what he must do.

Former Wimbledon champion Ashley Cooper says Hewitt should loosen ties with his parents and "become his own man."

Cooper described the 22-year-old's family circumstance as "not a healthy situation for him."

"I think it's too much of a pressure cooker," Cooper told ABC radio.

"The fact that his mother and father travel with him constantly and are even present when he practices, I think ... there's a build up of tension there.

"I, quite frankly, would like to see him loosen the family strings a bit now and become his own man."

Cooper, champion at Wimbledon in 1958, said Hewitt should look more to Belgian girlfriend Kim Clijsters than parents Glynn and Cherilyn for support.

"I think that if Lleyton gets away from the family a bit and gets influenced by Kim a bit more, I think he might settle down."

There is no denying the youngster's phenomenal achievements in tennis so far. In 1997 he became the youngest qualifier in the history of the Australian Open.

Last year he became only the fourth player to rank number one in the world for every week during the calendar year.

His star was by far the brightest in the tennis galaxy. His greatest task now could be to ensure it does not burn itself out.

Hewitt crashes out day 1

June 23 2003

The opening day of The Championships produced the biggest upset for 36 years when the defending champion Lleyton Hewitt was knocked out by a giant Croatian qualifier, Ivo Karlovic, competing in his first Grand Slam main draw.

Karlovic, who stands 6ft 10in, walked as tall as he has ever done in his life to dismiss the No. 1 seed on merit 1-6, 7-6 (7-5), 6-3, 6-4 in two hours 24 minutes. The 203rd-ranked player was virtually faultless on court after being swept aside in a 19-minute opening set.

Just once before has the defending Gentlemen’s Singles Champion been beaten in the first round at Wimbledon -- when Manuel Santana of Spain was eliminated by the American Charlie Pasarell in 1967.

Karlovic's victory was fairy tale stuff. He had played only two matches on the top tier of the professional circuit this year, winning one and losing his second at the recent Stella Artois grass court tournament at Queen's Club, London. But he is already a member of the Croatian Davis Cup team, having replaced the injured hero of the country, Goran Ivanisevic.

Hewitt will rue this as a match thrown away, since he was able to convert only three of his 13 break points, but in truth it was Karlovic who seized his moment brilliantly. He converted two of the three break points which came his way, pounded down 18 aces and ran out a deserved winner.

How different it had seemed at the start as Hewitt ran away with the first set in the Centre Court’s opening showpiece. The flow was still with the title-holder at the start of the second set, too, as Karlovic, the 24-year-old son of a meteorologist and an agricultural worker, had to fight off five break points to keep Hewitt at bay.

Once he had overcome this crisis, the Croatian giant, who lists basketball as his favourite hobby, drove Hewitt onto the defensive. Two aces in the second set tiebreak helped to level the match at one set all and as Karlovic zeroed his attack on the faltering Hewitt forehand, the Australian began to struggle.

Karlovic saved a break point in the third game of the third set with his 12th ace and promptly broke to go 3-1 up, a lead he comfortably protected as the crowd buzzed in disbelief.

Hard as he tried to pull the match round, Hewitt was never again able to dent the Karlovic serve, or his burgeoning confidence, and it was as good as over when the Croatian broke serve to go 5-4 up in the fourth set on a brace of Hewitt errors.

Nor was he fazed by the prospect of serving out for the match on the biggest occasion of his life. Two thunderous smashes took him within two points of a sensational result, and Hewitt obligingly did the rest, netting a backhand and then striking a forehand service return into the net.

Hewitt makes no excuses

By Alex Perry BBC Sport at Wimbledon All the talk on the first morning at Wimbledon was of a proposed boycott by the ATP of next year's tournament. Lleyton Hewitt will probably now be wishing they had got their act together in time for this year's event after becoming the first men's reigning champion to lose in the first round since the Open era began. Hewitt was remarkably calm afterwards, and refused to make any excuses for his defeat at the hands of the little known Croat Ivo Karlovic. The only time Hewitt showed any signs of his famous temper was when he was asked whether his recent split from coach Jason Stoltenberg, or pending lawsuit against the ATP had disrupted his game. "No, not at all," said Hewitt emphatically. "I felt like I was hitting the ball pretty well," he insisted. "I just didn't take my chances." Nevertheless, many will still question his decision to go it alone. The Australian points to tournament wins in Scottsdale and Indian Wells earlier in the year, and suggests it is only his Grand Slam performances that have let him down. And two of those were while he was still with Stoltenberg. "My Grand Slams have been pretty disappointing in terms of results. "But I don't think I did too much wrong against El Aynaoui [in Australia], and the first two sets against Robredo [at Roland Garros] were probably the best I've ever played on clay. "This has been the most disappointing of all the Slams." But Hewitt preferred to give credit to his opponent for this defeat than blame himself. "There wasn't too much I could do on the breakpoints," he said. "I had one early in the third set and another at the start of the fourth set, and he hit two aces. "When I missed those opportunities early in the second set, his whole game came together. "Early on I felt pretty good - it just shows how quickly things can change." Hewitt has one more Slam this year to try to put things right. "I hope I can learn from this," he said. "The US Open is somewhere I've had good results - that's the big one for me now."