Serves you right
By Nick Galvin
June 19, 2004
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Sydney Morning Herald
Get set for two weeks of late nights as the drama of Wimbledon fortnight
unfolds. On the other hand, if tennis is not your thing, get set to try to
ignore the whole thing and wince every time you hear yet another water-cooler
conversation about Lleyton or the Williams sisters.
It is hard not to get sucked in to this majestic sporting occasion, though, and
a visit to the impressive official site (http://www.wimbledon.org/) should pique
the interest of all but the most hardened tennis hater. This site continually
improves and this year promises real-time point-by-point scores from every match
played. There are also webcams that can be directed by users and live audio
commentary.
For an alternative take on the international tennis scene, turn to the
ever-reliable BBC site (http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/tennis/default.stm). It
has a slight pro-British bias in its information but is otherwise very
comprehensive. If you need to bring yourself up to speed on the results from the
latest other grand slam events, there is a full rundown with pictures and
commentary. If you don't even know what a "grand slam" is and don't want to
embarrass yourself around the cooler, there is an excellent primer (http://news.bbc.co.uk/sportacademy/bsp/hi/tennis/rules/html/default.stm)
on the rules of tennis.
If you prefer your tennis news delivered with a little more US-style pizazz than
the BBC can provide, ESPN (http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/tennis) has pizazz
aplenty plus an obvious American slant to its coverage. There was a good
round-up of pre-Wimbledon news when I visited and detailed results from current
competitions but no sign of much live content.
Of course, it's the on- and off-court dramas surrounding the players that make
Wimbledon so fascinating. Answers to questions like "will the women's title be
won by a Williams sister or a Williams sister?" or "what will Tim Henman's
excuse be this year?" are where much of the excitement lies.
Australia's hopes for Wimbledon 2004 lie mostly in 2002 winner Lleyton
Hewitt. You can search in vain for an official Hewitt site (I'm sure there is
one somewhere but it can't be as much fun as the unofficial "fan" sites), but
that lack is more than addressed by the Original Lleyton Hewitt Site (http://www.lleytonhewitt.biz/).
There's everything here for the dedicated fan/stalker, including a numerology
section ("Lleyton has a beautifully balanced and well-developed power of
intuition which enables him to put himself in another person's position") and an
essay on Hewitt's star sign. It also features that holy grail of all fan sites -
a poetry section.
Sample: He won the match and the crown when no one thought he'd do it
But the tennis world should never dismiss the likes of Lleyton Hewitt
Pure genius.
No poetry over at the biggest fan site of England's hope, the charismatic Tim
Henman (http://www.henmagic.freeserve.co.uk/). However, there are plenty of
pictures of Tim playing, Tim not playing and even Tim looking a complete dork in
a dodgy Hawaiian shirt.
Over in the skirt-wearing section of this year's tournament, the dominance of
the Williams sisters has every chance of continuing. VenusSerenaFans (http://www.venusserenafans.com/)
has absolutely no doubt that one of the pair already has their name on this
year's trophy. Here, we learn that "the Williams sisters exemplify brilliance,
beauty, unimaginable strength and effeminate [sic] grace". There's much more in
the same vein and the inevitable "poetry" section:
Go Venus go! Go Serena go! Go girls go!
Blessed with an energised Father who is Trainer and Coach
Oh! Ho!
Admittedly, fan site poetry is something of an acquired taste and if these
outpourings are not quite to your taste, maybe you'd prefer testing your
knowledge of the technical properties of the tennis ball in a strange quiz
(http://tennis.about.com/library/weekly/aatennisballsquizpage.htm).
Memorise some of this stuff and you'll never be at a loss for conversation
during the rain breaks on centre court.
Shaping up for Wimbledon Hewitt beats the
pain, now for the title
Tennis By Paul Mulvey
Sunday, 20 June 2004
The Northern Daily Leader
tamworth.yourguide.com.au
LLEYTON Hewitt hung around Wimbledon last year out of loyalty to fiancee Kim
Clijsters, but it hurt him to watch the tournament unfold from the stands.
The 2002 champion winced as he watched on television while Roger Federer took
his title - dismantling Mark Philippoussis in the final.
"I didn't enjoy it," Hewitt admitted. "It was tough at the time." Hewitt was
only the second Wimbledon men's champion in 126 years to lose in the first round
when the top seed was toppled in four sets on the opening day by Croatia's world
No203 Ivo Karlovic.
Hewitt spent the rest of the fortnight at his rented house in Wimbledon, playing
golf, kicking the footy and going to the courts to support Clijsters as she
reached the semi-finals.
"You try and take out as many positives as possible from the loss, which was
very hard at the time. It's not the easiest thing to do when the tournament's
being played," he said. "But one of the main positives about tennis is you have
another big tournament to look forward to a few weeks later."
He began his recovery by reaching the quarters of the US Open and then recorded
two victories, which he considers among the greatest achievements of his career
- a pair of five-set wins on grass over Federer and Juan Carlos Ferrero in the
semi-final and final of the Davis Cup to secure Australia victory.
But, by taking nine weeks off the tour to concentrate on the Davis Cup, he
slumped to a ranking of 17 at the end of the year and many were questioning
whether the man who was No1 for 75 weeks could get back to the top.
This year, an Australian Open fourth round loss to Federer, his best clay court
season, a semi-final at Queen's Club and a return to the top 10 has Hewitt in
the shape and frame of mind to once again enjoy Wimbledon.
The seventh seed starts his campaign with renewed confidence and a first round
match against Austrian Jurgen Melzer tomorrow. But the world No10 admitted it
took a while to get over the 1-6, 7-6, 6-3, 6-4 loss to Karlovic.
"It was one of those matches I didn't feel I played a bad match. I just played a
guy who got extremely confident and served massive and I still should have been
up two sets to love," he said.
After the loss, the tightknit Hewitt camp came under scrutiny. The role of his
parents, who continue to travel with him to every match, was questioned but the
biggest criticism was reserved for Hewitt's decision to take on his fitness
adviser Roger Rasheed as his fulltime coach. Rasheed replaced Jason Stoltenberg
after the French Open and got off to the worst possible start three weeks into
the job at Wimbledon.
Many pundits questioned the coaching credentials of a former player who reached
no great heights on the tour.
"I think it was a joke," Hewitt said. "That's the media, they're going to try to
hop on something and look for a negative aspect, they saw that as an easy target
I guess."
While Hewitt, 23, won Wimbledon and the 2001 US Open with Stoltenberg, but has
yet to get past the quarter finals under Rasheed, he has stuck with his long
time mate from Adelaide and credits him with orchestrating his fightback toward
the top.
"He's been great. Obviously it was a bit rough at the start but we put a lot of
work in after I lost at Wimbledon and after I won the semi-final tie against
Federer at the Davis Cup," Hewitt said. "A lot of that work was purely for that
one match against Ferrero in the Davis Cup final which Roger doesn't get a lot
of credit for. And that stood me in good stead for this year."
Hewitt will need to be on top of his game if he is to regain the Wimbledon title
against Federer and Andy Roddick, who have leapfrogged him and taken his role as
the standard bearers of men's tennis.
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Bland slam: you cannot be so serious
June 21, 2004
Sydney Morning Herald
With Wimbledon starting today, John McEnroe laments the absence of the great
rivalries that once made tennis so compelling.
When people talk to me about the old days, they invariably mention the 1980
Wimbledon final, which I lost to Bjorn Borg. It seems like I lost that match 20
times more than I lost any other. You would have thought that after all these
years I'd be sick and tired of the mention of it, but I'm not.
When you have a rivalry that was as good as ours, it's an honour to know it's
still remembered - even the defeats. In fact, it helps ease the pain of losing.
Tennis needs great rivalries like that. Every sport does. Muhammad Ali versus
Joe Frazier, Jack Nicklaus versus Arnold Palmer. Tennis needs to get back to
those kind of rivalries that I had with Borg and Jimmy Connors, or that Pete
Sampras had with Andre Agassi, in order to give the sport that extra edge. There
aren't too many obvious ones around at the moment, but I could see Roger Federer
and Andy Roddick, the Wimbledon and US Open champions respectively, developing
into a pretty good one.
It would help if there was another men's player around to duel with Federer and
Roddick. But there's only a select few who could rise to that level. An ideal
type would be Lleyton Hewitt, who has this great intensity. He is a little guy
who wants to prove he can play with the big boys.
Other than him, I think there is only Marat Safin who has real box-office
appeal.
There's an element of the Ali-George Foreman mix about Roddick and Federer. The
American is the one with the big shot, like Foreman, but if he doesn't get the
job done, as was the case at Wimbledon last year, then Federer has the
versatility of an Ali to finish him off. Roddick has a bigger serve than Federer
but doesn't back it up as well. And while his forehand may be better than
Federer's, his backhand definitely isn't.
When Federer gets into a rally, he has a comfort level that is remarkable to
watch, particularly against an opponent who hits the ball as hard as Roddick,
which is harder than I have ever seen anyone hit a ball. Normally, it's
difficult to remain calm in such circumstances but Federer plays with an ease
that the rest of us can only dream about.
Roddick hasn't had things all his own way since the US Open, although he did win
the Nasdaq-100 Open. His defeat by Federer in last year's Wimbledon semi-final
ought to have left him desperate to renew their rivalry.
In the women's game, there are great possibilities for an exciting rivalry
between Justine Henin-Hardenne and Serena and Venus Williams.
Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert played each other something like 80 times.
Now that's a rivalry. A lefty against a righty and a woman who never showed her
emotion against one who generally did. Martina Hingis's rivalry with the
Williamses was great while it lasted. The Swiss girl had this cocky attitude. It
was like, 'I can take care of these two'. You either liked her or you didn't but
that only added to the fascination. If anything, the women's game has the
potential for even greater rivalries than the men's, particularly if Kim
Clijsters can find that extra level.
Great rivalries depend on certain factors that usually have to include either a
contrast in styles or personalities - and preferably both. The only acceptable
similarity between the pair, I would say, would be if they were both to wear
tight shorts. And if they topped them off with headbands, all the better.
Sadly for me, my rivalry with Borg did not last anywhere near as long as many
people imagine. We met 14 times in major competition - seven wins apiece - and
although that was far fewer than I played against Connors (20-13 in my favour)
or Ivan Lendl (15-21 in his favour), the rivalry between the Swede and myself
was easily the most memorable.
There was a contrast in styles and obviously a contrast in personalities. It
also helps enormously when people care who wins, when they have personal
favourites, and I think that was definitely the case with Borg and myself.
The clothes, the hair, even the wooden racquets - the whole picture was magical.
But there was never any bitterness between us, as there was between Connors and
Lendl and myself. It was one of the great regrets of my career when Borg decided
to retire after the 1981 US Open at the age of 25. I know our rivalry made me a
better player and I like to think it made him better, too. I just feel I could
have improved more had he stayed around.
I remember Rod Laver was the first guy to make $US100,000 ($145,000) but he had
to play 30 to 35 tournaments to do it. If you look at most players from Laver's
time, they're still doing things, be it coaching or running tennis academies.
They have got real jobs. But Borg was the first one to be able to retire on what
he had made from the sport. Another reason he retired, perhaps, was that he
thought his game no longer matched up well against mine on the faster surfaces.
The year he quit I had beaten him, I believe, on three straight occasions,
including Wimbledon and the US Open. Remember, too, although he was still young,
he had been playing for a long time. He turned pro when he was 15. I still think
he pulled the trigger a little too quickly. He also had a great rivalry with
Connors and was dominating him the last couple of years they played. The year
after he retired I lost in the semi-finals of the US Open to Lendl and Connors
won the title. Who was to say that Borg wouldn't have beaten him if he had still
been around? There doesn't always have to be a contrast in personalities for
great rivalries to thrive. Connors and I were both fairly similar types, both
very emotional, like two stags locking horns. But there was a distinct
difference in our style of play: he would come at you from the baseline, while I
would come at him from the net.
Neither of us liked to lose to the other so we would each go to extreme lengths
in order not to do so. Of course, enmity like that can make for great rivalries,
as can great effort. Most people would say, 'God, you're really into this, you
really try hard', and I would always compare myself to Connors. I would try to
be as good a competitor as he was but I was always coming up a little short. I
cannot pay him any greater respect than that.
I don't believe Sampras would have been as impressive a player had it not been
for his rivalry with Agassi, which lifted him to great heights. Rivalries can do
that for you. I mean, I would have loved to have played regularly against
Sampras and Boris Becker on grass in my prime or Borg more often on clay. I
would probably have lost most of them but that's what you want to do as an
athlete: test yourself against the best. Agassi first played Sampras when they
were 10 and nine respectively.
The first rivalry I can recall was between Laver and Ken Rosewall. I remember
wanting Rocket Rod to win so bad, which he usually did, but Rosewall often found
a way of hanging in there. Laver was my idol. He had every shot in the book long
before Federer had it. Rosewall was 5ft 7in (1.7m), didn't have much of a serve,
and always hit his backhand sliced - he never came over a backhand - yet somehow
he made four Wimbledon finals, including one at 19 and another at 39.
I remember playing him once when he was preparing for a winner-takes-all
tournament in Madison Square Garden. He needed a practice partner. I was 17 at
the time and lucky enough to get the call. I was so pumped up but he made me
work so hard. I was exhausted by the end of it, having lost something like 6-4,
6-3. And I thought, at least I made him work a little bit, too. And then he says
to me, 'You wanna play another set?' I nearly died.
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Cash doesn't have his money on 'not so tough' Hewitt
By Linda Pearce, in London
June 21, 2004
Sydney Morning Herald
The 1987 Wimbledon champion Pat Cash is not convinced Lleyton Hewitt is
legitimate chance of winning the title this year.
Cash said Hewitt, despite his good showing at the French Open, could not
reproduce the form that helped him win in 2002.
"I've heard it said that Hewitt will be back in contention this year, but I
disagree," Cash wrote in his English newspaper column.
"He is not as tough as he was a few years ago, and is making too many unforced
errors. There is nobody to stop [Roger] Federer from winning through to the
final from the top half of the draw."
Cash's comments will come as a blow to Hewitt, who lost in the first round last
year to Croatian qualifier Ivo Karlovic, a tennis giant in size only. "It's
probably always in the back of your mind, really, especially if you've got to go
out there . . . and play in the first round again," Hewitt said ahead of
Monday's opener against 42nd-ranked Austrian Jurgen Melzer at the All England
club.
"But the good thing about tennis is you don't have to wait long for another big
tournament or something to look forward to and focus all your energy on, and
obviously after Wimbledon we had the US Open and then two Davis Cup ties, so I
trained extremely hard after that.
"I played pretty well a few weeks later when I made the final in Los Angeles,
and then started playing well at the US Open again, and I think probably with
the US Open, and the Davis Cup wins, that I had at the end of the year, you sort
of forget about it a bit. So it was out of my mind, I guess, in a few weeks'
time, but it was pretty hard to take at the time."
A year later, Hewitt returns to SW19 as the seventh seed, with two titles in
2004, but no major semi-final appearance since the 2002 US Open. Along with his
potential quarter-final opponent, Federer, and the retiring Goran Ivanisevic, he
is one of only three past winners in the men's draw. He has passed the third
round only twice in five visits.
The 23-year-old is adamant that last year's Wimbledon result has not affected
his approach.
"I'll go in with the same attitude," he said. "It wasn't a matter of, I don't
think, going in with the wrong attitude last year. I wasn't overconfident going
in at all, I felt like I was hitting the ball well."
Hewitt didn't entirely disagree with Cash, nominating world No.1 Federer as the
man to beat, despite the Swiss's third-round loss to Gustavo Kuerten at the
French Open, where Hewitt reached the quarter-finals.
"Roger's still up there," Hewitt said. "He'd have to be the favourite."
THE AUSTRALIANS
Australians playing on day one at Wimbledon on Monday (prefix denotes seed, W
denotes wildcard):
Men's singles:
7-L Hewitt v J Melzer (Aut)
W Arthurs v F Mayer (Ger)
Women's singles:
27-A Molik v M Czink (Hun)
N Pratt v W-A Keothavong (GB)
S Stosur v 12-V Zvonareva (Rus)
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Hewitt ready to move on from last year's first-round shock
By Linda Pearce
London
June 21, 2004
The Age
It was the most ignominious defeat of his career and Lleyton Hewitt has admitted
he thinks about it still. Wimbledon, last year. Hewitt, the top seed and
defending champion, flops in four sets on centre court against Croatian
qualifier Ivo Karlovic, a tennis giant in size only, in the biggest grand slam
upset of the year.
"It's probably always in the back of your mind, really, especially if you've got
to go out there . . . and play in the first round again," Hewitt admitted in the
lead-up to today's opener against 42nd-ranked Austrian Jurgen Melzer at the All
England club.
"But the good thing about tennis is you don't have to wait long for another big
tournament or something to look forward to and focus all your energy on and
obviously after Wimbledon, we had the US Open and then two Davis Cup ties, so I
trained extremely hard after that.
"I played pretty well a few weeks later when I made the final in Los Angeles and
then started playing well at the US Open again, and I think probably with the US
Open and the Davis Cup wins that I had at the end of the year, you sort of
forget about it a bit. So it was out of my mind, I guess, in a few weeks' time,
but it was pretty hard to take at the time."
A year later, Hewitt returns to SW19 as the seventh seed, with two titles in
2004, but no major semi-final appearance since the 2002 US Open.
Along with his potential quarter-final opponent, Roger Federer, and the retiring
Goran Ivanisevic, he is one of only three former winners in the men's draw, but
has himself passed the third round only twice in five visits.
Yet Hewitt also has made a typically swift and relatively painless transition
from clay to grass, this year reaching the last four at Queen's Club, where he
has won the title three times, before spending a week on the practice court. The
23-year-old is adamant that last year's disastrous Wimbledon result has not
affected his current approach.
"I'll go in with the same attitude," he said. "It wasn't a matter of, I don't
think, going in with the wrong attitude last year; I felt like I wasn't
overconfident going in at all, I felt like I was hitting the ball well.
"He (Karlovic) just got extremely confident after he got out of that second-set
tiebreak and the whole match turned around, it was just a momentum swing, and on
grass against a guy who has that kind of firepower, it's a little bit of a coin
toss now and then. So from last year, I guess more than anything (I learnt you)
just have to take your chances when you get them. The year before when I won it,
I was able to take those chances."
Hewitt conceded he had surprised even himself by winning the world's biggest
tournament so early in his career: as a 21-year-old who had been raised on
hardcourts in Adelaide, playing only the occasional event on the Memorial Drive
lawns, before graduating to regular Davis Cup outings on grass. He enjoys his
month on the surface and believes that attitude gives him an edge over the
suspicious and the unfamiliar.
"I think I'm one of the few players that probably enjoys playing on grass and
actually likes going out there and playing on it, where a lot of guys go out
there and they're negative right from the start," he said.
"So I think that's been a huge bonus for me, just knowing that I've been able to
go out there and win a lot of matches.
Rafter: Hewitt can defy odds
By LEO SCHLINK
20jun04
Herald Sun
PAT Rafter believes Australia can defy a worrying lack of depth and continue its
excellent Wimbledon strike rate through Lleyton Hewitt and Mark Philippoussis.
The dual All-England Club finalist and former world No. 1 senses Hewitt and
Philippoussis can provide Australia's fifth men's singles finalist in as many
years.
Hewitt, the 2002 champion, and Philippoussis, overwhelmed in last season's final
by Roger Federer, followed Rafter on to the most famous stage in tennis after
the Queenslander lost heartbreaking deciders to Pete Sampras in 2000 and Goran
Ivanisevic a year later.
Rafter predicts seventh-seed Hewitt will rebound sharply after failing last
season to reach the semi-finals or better of a grand slam for the first time
since he exploded into major tennis five years ago.
"I've made the mistake of writing off a mate before and I won't be doing that
again," Rafter said.
"Lleyton's an amazing competitor and he's done some freaky things in the past --
and he can do it again.
"He's definitely among the top four guys who stand out as the main chances. He's
up there with Roger Federer, Tim Henman and Andy Roddick.
"He probably hasn't been hitting the ball as well as he could, but he'll get
stuck in and work really hard because he knows that's what he has to do to be
successful.
"The game has changed since I retired (2001) and it's incredible how guys are
able to generate the power they do when they are wide out on the court. I think
it must be the (new) strings.
"Some of the guys have caught up to Lleyton and gone past him a bit because of
the strings, but he's always going to be a threat because he's such a great
competitor."
Shocked in the first round 12 months ago by giant Croat qualifier Ivo Karlovic,
Hewitt is seeded to play Federer in the quarter-finals.
At his best, Hewitt is capable of upsetting the defending champion and world No.
1 as borne out by a 7-4 record against the Swiss.
Rafter said Hewitt would use the Karlovic experience as a spur to greater
heights tomorrow as he opened his campaign against Austrian Jurgen Melzer, who
has lost two matches to the Australian over the past five weeks.
"Lleyton won't let what happened last year affect him," Rafter said.
"He'll be going out there to play his best and he won't be worrying about last
year."
Philippoussis faces Belgian qualifier Christophe Rochus, who has won only one
match at Wimbledon in five attempts.
The Victorian regained vital confidence with a low-key victory at a Stoke Park
exhibition on Friday and, said Rafter, the man he defeated in the 1998 US Open
final was capable of quickly hitting his straps.
"Mark's probably not going into the tournament with a lot of confidence," Rafter
said. "But he has the ability of playing good tennis out of nowhere.
"I would put him in a group of guys behind the main four, along with guys like
Taylor Dent and (Greg) Rusedski.
"On grass, the big servers are always dangerous and unpredictable. Mark falls
into the category and he's done well at Wimbledon in the past."
Philippoussis, seeded 11th, has not won a rankings-point match since defeating
Croat Mario Ancic in the third round of the Australian Open on January 24.
Australia has only four men in singles contention after -- for the first time in
memory -- not having a sole entrant in qualifying.
Sydneysider Todd Reid, the 2002 boy's singles champion, has been included as a
wildcard contender and will challenge American 30th-seed Vince Spadea.
Spadea needed three sets to roll Reid in Adelaide last year and will be wary of
the 20-year-old from NSW.
Victorian Wayne Arthurs, strangely unable to have an impact on English grass in
outings at Nottingham and Queen's Club, meets German Florian Mayer.
If successful against Mayer, Arthurs will play either South African net-rusher
Wesley Moodie or Argentine third-seed Guillermo Coria.
Despite French Open finalist Coria's encouraging showing at Rosmalen this week,
the tennis caravan was awash with tips Coria would be the first senior seed to
topple.
Defending champion Federer begins his quest for a third major against
307th-ranked British wildcard Alex Bogdanovich.
Queen's Club winner and second seed Roddick faces qualifier Yeu-Tzuoo Wang.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hewitt is hitting top form, says Masur
By Linda Pearce
London
June 20, 2004
Sydney Morning Herald
Lleyton Hewitt's third grand slam title would make a more-than-acceptable year
an exceptional one, according to Davis Cup coach Wally Masur, who believes the
former world No. 1 has been playing some career-best tennis ahead of tomorrow's
opening round at Wimbledon.
The 2002 Wimbledon champion has been seeded seventh, and his campaign opens
against 42nd-ranked Austrian Jurgen Melzer, a tricky opponent, but not one noted
for his grasscourt expertise. The major cloud hovering on the Australian's
horizon is titleholder Roger Federer, whom Hewitt could meet in the
quarter-finals.
"Lleyton's had a good year. All he needs is a major, and that'll be a great
year, and he can do it, he can do it," Masur said. "We have to temper our
enthusiasm with the fact that Federer is lighting it up at the moment, but any
player finds it hard to sustain that type of level all year . . . and I'm quite
certain Lleyton is playing some of the best tennis of his career at the moment."
Hewitt is seeded three places above his world ranking of 11, but sits eighth in
the ATP champion's race, the measure of calendar-year success, and has won
titles in Sydney and Rotterdam. He was eliminated in the semi-finals at Queen's
Club by Andy Roddick, but what the straight sets scoreline does not reveal is
that Hewitt served for the first set.
The 23-year-old's ranking dropped to the edge of the top 20 late last year, when
he took a break to have a wart removed from his foot and concentrate on helping
Australia to regain the Davis Cup. Still, he has not reached a grand slam
semi-final since 2002, nor is he the irresistible force that swept to the top of
the rankings at the end of 2001 and remained there for 75 weeks.
"I just think he got tired," Masur said. "If you look at his three, four years,
his involvement with Davis Cup, winning the Masters Cup (twice), then
straightaway he's back at the Hopman Cup, then he got chickenpox; he was just
physically tired, and every time you step up and play a match, it's like another
physical and mental confrontation.
"He'd done it so well, for so long, on so many different surfaces, in so many
big matches, that I think the kid just hit the wall physically. He's not like
(Pete) Sampras, who gets 40 free points with his serve every match; he's a guy
who has to work hard for his wins, and it just took its toll physically and
mentally on him. But I think he's getting back there. Lleyton will surprise a
few people by the end of the year."
Joining Hewitt on court tomorrow will be fellow Australians Wayne Arthurs,
Alicia Molik, Nicole Pratt and Samantha Stosur. Mark Philippoussis and Todd Reid
play on Tuesday, as does Australian qualifier Christina Wheeler.
Masur also reserved some optimism for Philippoussis, despite the 11th seed's
10-loss tournament and Davis Cup run having been interrupted only by a bright
spell at last month's World Team Cup.
"I reckon he can do bloody well at Wimbledon. You don't have to be Einstein to
realise that," Masur said.. "Mark's the kind of guy that can run hot on any
surface. He can play well on clay, and a lot of guys don't want to play him when
he's in full flight. But Mark on grass is a whole different prospect."
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Wimbledon no tougher now: Hewitt
From correspondents in London
June 19, 2004
The Australian
EVEN with the prospect of facing top seed Roger Federer in the quarter finals,
Lleyton Hewitt rejects the notion that this year's Wimbledon will be much
tougher than when he won the title in 2002.
When Hewitt claimed his second grand slam title two years ago, he sat alone at
the top of world tennis as a 21-year-old while Andre Agassi and Pete Sampras
were on the way down.
But he denies tennis was in a lull at the time while it was awaiting the
emergence of the likes of current world No.1 and defending Wimbledon champion
Federer and No.2 Andy Roddick.
Hewitt, now ranked No.10, acknowledged Federer and Roddick add ingredients which
weren't at the All England Club in 2002, but he pointed to Sampras and Agassi
who were there and still good enough to win the 2002 US Open and 2003 Australian
Open respectively.
"Yeah, but I guess Sampras and Agassi were at their best or close to their best
back then as well," he said.
"Mark Philippoussis was another guy, there was always dangerous floaters in the
draw.
"It's always going to be a tough tournament to win.
"There's always going to be upsets at Wimbledon probably more so than any other
grand slam because in the past you've had so many clay court specialists come as
high seeds and get knocked out early and that leaves openings in the draw."
The second round exits of Sampras and Agassi in 2002 left a couple of big holes
in the draw which allowed Hewitt to march into the final without facing a top 10
player until he beat Tim Henman in the semis.
No such luxury has been afforded the seventh seed this year, with a scheduled
quarter final against Federer.
Hewitt has a 7-4 career record over Federer, but although he has lost both
matches against the Swiss this year, the potential quarter final is shaping as a
massive meeting of the tournament's last two champions.
"That's if he gets there, if they both get there," said Hewitt's coach Roger
Rasheed.
"They've had good matches against each other and tough matches. If we get to
that situation, fantastic, we'll be pretty happy.
"Lleyton's form's very good, he's in a good spot at the moment, so his form's
good so we'll have to wait and see how the first week pans out and especially
Monday.
"He's done the hard work and the preparation, so he feels good."
Hewitt opens his tournament on Monday against Austrian world No.42 Jurgen Melzer
whom he beat in four sets in the second round at the French Open last month.
He heads a slim four-man Australian contingent in the men's singles, completed
by the badly out of touch 11th seed Philippoussis, Wayne Arthurs and 2002
Wimbledon boys champion Todd Reid.
Philippoussis comes into the tournament as last year's finalist but on the back
of eight successive first round losses in ATP tour events this year.
He was handed a great chance to break his duck when he drew a qualifier for his
opening match on Tuesday, but Belgian world No.117 Christophe Rochus won't be
easy, especially given the Victorian's form.
Arthurs' form has not been much better with four consecutive first round losses
and he faces up and coming German Florian Mayer on Monday.
Wildcard Reid starts his first senior Wimbledon campaign on Tuesday against 30th
seed Vince Spadea.
Tim looking good as Wimbledon draws near
www.timhenman.org
16/6/04 3:21
British number one Tim Henman was put through his paces by former Wimbledon
champion Lleyton Hewitt (AUS) at the All England Club on Wednesday and said
afterwards he is delighted with his form.
“The weather’s been great so I’ve been able to pretty much pick and choose my
practice times,” explained the 29-year-old.
“I had a very light session yesterday but today was full-on and I was pleased
with the quality of all areas of my game.
“Practising with Lleyton is always challenging and very enjoyable as he puts 100
per cent into everything and his competitiveness is obvious so it always makes
for a great session.”
When the two men began their practice match, Hewitt was quick out of the blocks
on an immaculate court seven, winning the first set 6-1 with a flurry of
effective groundstrokes.
Henman countered by improving his first serve percentage and taking advantage of
any opportunity that arose from the Australian missing his first serve.
The majority of play in the second set was superb, Henman eventually drawing
level courtesy of a 6-1 scoreline.
Having been on court for just over an hour and 15 minutes, Henman and Hewitt
decided on two more service games each, which both players managed to hold
without incident.
The friendly match was then decided by a tie-break, and Hewitt looked odds-on
favourite after storming into a 3-0 lead.
Henman fought back by winning six of the next seven points, however, to stand at
match point, only to net a backhand volley.
Hewitt readily accepted the invitation back into the tie-break and promptly won
the next three points to seal victory.
Afterwards, the Australian quickly took the opportunity to rub salt into the
wound by joking: “That was just like the football the other night!” referring to
the 2-1 defeat England suffered at the hands of the French in the opening match
of their European Championship campaign after leading 1-0 with just seconds
remaining.
The session finished with smiles all round, but the steely determination from
both players was obvious throughout.
Henman will no doubt be hoping that if the two meet during The Championships
proper, the quality of play will be the same, but the outcome decidedly
different.