Hewitt fears no one but his fiancee
Hewitt fears no one but his fiancee
By Mark Hodgkinson in Rotterdam
(Filed: 21/02/2004)
Telegraph.co.uk, UK
Kim Clijsters once said that she occasionally beats Lleyton Hewitt, her
Australian fiance, in practice. The claim will be keenly tested with a "love
match" due to take place in April. She may then have to appeal to his chivalry
because the former men's world No 1 is in rude health.
The couple, who got engaged during a Christmas cruise around Sydney Harbour,
are to play a singles exhibition in Bree, Clijsters' home town in the north of
Belgium. It will be the first time that they have played a match together in
public.
"Kim and I are going to play a few games. I'm not sure about three sets. I
might not last that long," sixth seed Hewitt said after knocking-out German
third seed Rainer Schuettler 7-6, 6-3 to reach the semi-finals of the Rotterdam
indoors.
Clijsters and Hewitt were scheduled to have faced each other in a mixed doubles
rubber at the Hopman Cup in Perth last month, but Clijsters, the women's No 2,
was forced to withdraw from the heavily promoted match after injuring an ankle.
Hewitt, 22, is looking for a return to the big time after a poor 2003. He
opened the year at the top of the rankings, but closed it outside the top 10
after making just one Grand Slam quarter-final.
At Wimbledon last year, the defending champion lost in the first round to a
Croatian unknown, Ivo Karlovic.
Hewitt will play more tournaments this year than last in an attempt to get back
where he belongs. His coach, Roger Rasheed, said that in two seasons Hewitt
should be in the form of his life.
"Lleyton is a late developer," he said. "In a couple of years his body will
have fully matured." Rasheed took over coaching Hewitt after the French Open
last year but the impact that he has had on the player is only now taking full
effect. The counter-puncher has lost just one match this season, to Roger
Federer in the fourth round of the Australian Open. Something is stirring.
"I'm happy with my game," Hewitt said. "I'm moving well, hitting my forehand
well, returning well. I've won a lot more points with my serve. I'm learning
to take the initiative in the rallies and get the first hit in."
With Hewitt and Schuettler such high-class exponents of the all-court hustle,
chasing every shot down and giving their opponent just one more ball to play,
this quarter-final was punctuated with long, see-sawing rallies. It was not
pretty, just fiercely contested.
Twice Hewitt went a break up in the first set, twice Schuettler returned the
compliment in the next game. It needed a tie-break to decide, a result which
left the German repeatedly crashing his racket against the advertising
hoardings and muttering loudly to himself.
Hewitt was striking the ball with such vein-bulging ferocity that one forehand
caused Schuettler's racket to ping from his hand, bloodying his fingernail and
causing an injury that would make the second set a formality. The break came
in the fourth with a pair of lucky net-cords.
Max Mirnyi of Belarus, is another player who has used this event as a career
booster. He has slipped quietly through the draw, and yesterday reached the
last four with a 6-4, 7-6 win over Finland's Jarkko Nieminen.
Tim Henman was due on court late last night for his quarter-final with Federer,
the world No 1. The winner plays Hewitt today.
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