Hewitt the blast master lifts his game
Hewitt the blast master lifts his game
June 19 2003
The world No.2 is shedding his bad-boy image as he prepares to defend
his Wimbledon title, writes Richard Hinds in London.
For those who once had a difficult time reconciling their admiration
for Lleyton Hewitt's brave game with their unease about his sometimes
boorish behaviour, the Wimbledon champion's more recent performances
have provided relief.
The Lleyton Hewitt who begins his title defence next Monday is still
tightly wound. There is rarely a match in which he does not seem set
to explode. However, unlike some well publicised incidents early in
his career, Hewitt is now more likely to be irritated by his own
mistakes than a bad call.
The exhortations and expletives are directed almost exclusively at
himself or those in his tight-knit camp, not an opponent or umpire.
While the improvement might seem relative, it is something worthy of
praise. And yet Hewitt is even more dogged about conceding points in
the press room than he is on court. So he was not about to admit
anything has changed.
"I've never felt like I've directed it at my opponent," he says of
his outbursts. "I think there were people at times who wanted to say
that was the case. I've been pumped up at times at the crowd . . .
at people in my own camp, or friends. It's never really changed.
It's not something I consciously go and think about. It just comes
out at certain times I guess."
His loyal supporters often claim the young man who seems so angry
with the world is just a shy kid. Softly spoken, polite and indulgent
with those close to him.
Hewitt says there are two sides to his personality. "I'm obviously a
lot more shy off the court than I am on the court," he says.
"I feel like I get out on the court and play with a lot of emotion.
I'm not afraid of the situation. I think that is one of the reasons
I have been able to go up the rankings at such a young age. I haven't
had that fear of being in the centre stage and playing those big
matches in front of big crowds. That's what I dreamt of and that's
what I enjoy doing."
That statement contains the essence of Hewitt's image. The deeds he
must perform to be successful on the court - even in their recently
modified form - don't necessarily win friends off it. However, his
unexpected Wimbledon triumph last year brought some new admirers.
After winning the world's most significant title on a seemingly
unsuitable surface, nobody could deny Hewitt's fighting qualities.
Regardless of what you thought of his behaviour, you had to be
impressed by how much more heart he had than some of his contemporaries.
"I'm very competitive and I've got that never-say-die attitude in me
I guess," Hewitt says. "It doesn't matter what situation there is, I
believe that in some way I can pull through it and escape it. It's
happened a few times and won me some big matches, on the other hand
it can't happen every time. But I can't remember too many matches
where I've come off and looked in the mirror and can't say I've given
it 100 per cent."
That spirit could be the key to his Wimbledon defence. While Hewitt says
his game is coming along steadily in practice, he seemed out of sorts
at Queen's in his loss to Frenchman Sebastien Grosjean in the
quarter-finals.
"I feel like in practice the last three or four days I've been hitting
the ball pretty well," he says. "I've stepped it up a notch or two from
Queen's. Now it's going to be a lot just on the day, how you perform."
But if his serve was spluttering during the French Open and his
groundstrokes strangely imprecise at Queen's, Hewitt's confidence
does not seem diminished.
"I feel like I can step on the court any given day on nearly every
surface and go out there and say I'm good enough if I play my game
today, I can beat anyone," he says. "But I can't say I'm unbeatable
or this is going to be a whitewash. There are too many tough guys out
there and you only have to have a slightly off day and it can all turn
around."
Hewitt's victory in the final last year was a whitewash - a 6-1, 6-3,
6-2 humiliation of the overawed David Nalbandian. A more impressive
performance was Hewitt's semi-final victory over Tim Henman and his
fanatical supporters. Typically, rather than be intimidated by the
atmosphere Hewitt revelled in it.
"It's a great centre court, in close," he says. "Obviously there was
nowhere to hide. I got off to a pretty good start and it sort of took
the crowd out of it a little bit which was a positive for me."
By comparing the Henman match to a Davis Cup tie, the patriotic Hewitt
gives it a great compliment. It is in that team environment, rather
than a mere grand slam final, that he is most likely to get nervous.
To find the resolve to defend his title, perhaps a challenge of that
magnitude will be required. A dream quarter-final against the big
serve of Andy Roddick is one possibility.
But Hewitt is not looking beyond Monday when he walks out as the
defending champion.
"I don't feel that much pressure at the moment," he says. "I have
high expectations going into every grand slam as it is. It is pretty
enjoyable for me to walk back here with the memories of last year,
this is the one tournament I would have given anything to win. To
say that you've won it once and to walk back a year later, I think
that every year that I play here is going to have special memories."
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