Hewitt in Court Battle

[loveangelmusicbaby]

He is out of the Sydney International. By a guy I have never heard of! Apparently he is not well. Bec now has a tan!

[Kerry Hyde]

From the Sydney Morning Herald.

By Richard Hinds

January 13, 2006

Page 1 of 2

NOT since Lleyton Hewitt dragged his aching, chicken-poxed body to Melbourne in 2002 for what proved a futile attempt to be fit and healthy for the Australian Open has there been as much doubt about his readiness to do battle for the title he craves more than any other.

Yesterday's upset defeat to 60th-ranked Italian qualifier Andreas Seppi at the Sydney International renewed concerns about how greatly Hewitt had been weakened by a strength-sapping virus that almost caused him to withdraw from his first-round match on Monday. Coming on the back of a loss to the unheralded German Philipp Kolhschreiber in Adelaide last week, it also put in question the state of the Australian's game after more than three months on the sidelines. Not that Hewitt was willing to concede there was cause for panic.

"Just got to go sharpen up a few areas there," he said after yesterday's 4-6, 7-5, 7-5 defeat. "I felt like today I was able to step it up occasionally when I needed to, but then just wasn't able to finish it off."

However, as defiant as those words may be, for a player who usually attacks ruthlessly at the merest whiff of blood Hewitt's inability to move in for the kill against the gritty back-courter Seppi was downright disturbing, especially given he held two match points when serving at 5-3 in the second set and again led 5-3 in the third before letting the Italian back into the match.

"It should have been finished off in straight sets," said Hewitt, who acknowledged he had not attacked at the right times. "It shouldn't have been put in that situation in the third set."

While he was celebrating the biggest win of his career, Seppi agreed he had benefited from Hewitt's unusual lack of aggression.

"For sure, he made a lot of mistakes in this match," said the 21-year-old who will play Russian Igor Andreev in today's semi-final with the winner to meet James Blake or Nikolay Davydenko. "But was for me also a great win."

Obviously fatigued during his fighting first-round victory over Vince Spadea, Hewitt had seemed close to full strength when beating Austrian Jurgen Melzer in straight sets on Wednesday. Yesterday, he graciously chose not to play up his illness lest it detracted from his opponent's performance. "I don't think I was 100 per cent out there, but you are never going to be a couple of days after [suffering a virus]," he said. "Hopefully, it was the worst of the virus earlier in the week, but it still knocks you around a bit."

Hewitt's defeat was his first in the five times he has contested the Sydney International at the Sydney Olympic Park. His four Sydney titles had been part of a traditionally machine-like Australian Open preparation - something that makes this year's back-to-back failures in Adelaide and Sydney seem even more alarming.

But despite having played just five matches since his three-month lay-off, Hewitt said he would not look for extra match practice before heading to Melbourne Park.

"It's just a matter of practising and working on little areas and timing," he said. "Going out there and being confident within yourself."

Given his pre-match routine now involves depositing six-week-old baby Mia at the tournament creche, the question of how fatherhood was affecting his game was inevitable. Hewitt denied it had been a distraction.

"I've been training as hard as I've ever trained throughout November and December," he said. "When I get on the practice court or in the gym or wherever, it is still the same as usual. Every time I go out there, I focus on what I need to do."

Similarly, Hewitt denied his inability to overwhelm a couple of lowly ranked opponents was an indication his famed mental toughness had been diminished by time spent on the sidelines during an injury-interrupted 2005.

"Nothing's changed that," he said. "I probably had to rely on being mentally tough this week more than ever purely because when you're not feeling great, it's sometimes more a mental battle than a physical one out there."

After today's Australian Open draw Hewitt will know if he is scheduled to meet his nemesis Roger Federer in the semi-finals or the final. Either way, after yesterday, it seems a distant prospect even if Hewitt was quick to remind any sceptics about his ability to rise for the big occasion.

"There have been times when I've struggled, haven't won a lot of matches going in, then made the final or won a grand slam," he said. "I think the most important thing is to be mentally ready when the grand slam starts. And the last seven or eight grand slams I've been ready to do that."