Hewitt ready to rise after Wimbledon wake-up call
Hewitt ready to rise after Wimbledon wake-up call
By Linda Pearce January 20, 2004
Ivo Karlovic made his Australian Open debut yesterday, in the court 13
boondocks against 21st seed Mardy Fish. Karlovic, who defeated the seed in
three tie-breaker sets, has ridden his whopping serve to No.74 in the world,
but remains, at least in these parts, The Nobody Who Beat Lleyton Hewitt At
Wimbledon.
And yet maybe, in a perverse way, the nobody did the somebody a favour, for
last year's stunning first round result at the All England Club may prove to
be profound for both players involved. Karlovic, for the kick-start it provided
to a career in its infancy; Hewitt for the jolt it gave to one that, right
then, had stalled like never before.
"From the moment he lost that match at Wimbledon, I think he and Roger
[Rasheed] have worked really well together and Lleyton was really ready to
play Davis Cup on both occasions after that," said Davis Cup coach Wally
Masur. "I think that he was perfectly prepared for those events and I think
he's similarly prepared for this."
Ideally prepared is the consensus - an opinion shared by Hewitt himself, who
today against American qualifier Cecil Mamiit starts his eighth Australian
Open. The 15th seed is understandably content with his unbeaten Perth-Sydney
lead-in run.
"I just think he's got that nice combination of winning matches under his belt,
but yet having had a good base of hard work, like an off-season, which he just
hasn't had the opportunities to do probably in the last two to three years,"
Masur said. "Look, I don't want to get carried away, but he's fit, he's fresh,
he's hitting the ball great and he's just won a tournament. Just sounds like
a good mix, doesn't it?
"Lleyton had had an incredible two years, he just hadn't stopped. He had no
off-season, he won the Masters two years running, he was in Davis Cup finals
for three years, he was just on such a merry-go-round and it was almost like
he needed something to cause him to get off, and I think that came to a bit of
a head there at Wimbledon.
"If I was Roger Rasheed I'd be pretty bloody happy with where Lleyton is right
now."
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/01/19/1074360700026.html
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