Hewitt set for tough French Open
Hewitt set for tough French Open
May 24, 2004 - 4:05PM
Lleyton Hewitt begins what he hopes will be a long, hard fortnight at Roland
Garros with what should be a nice, easy first round on Monday.
Hewitt's French Open campaign gets underway against local wildcard Arnaud Di
Pasquale, ranked 423 and, on paper, no match for the 12th seed and former
world No.1.
Shoulder injuries have wrecked the Frenchman's career which peaked at a world
ranking of 39 in 2000 and tournament officials gave him a wildcard for his
first grand slam since last year's Australian Open 16 months ago.
Hewitt, 23, beat Di Pasquale in their previous two encounters which were both
on clay in 2000 and 2001 but the South Australian knows he won't be as poor
as the rankings suggest.
But he still welcomed a start against a rusty opponent as he braced for a
gruelling time on the clay at Roland Garros where he hasn't progressed
further than the quarter-finals in five attempts.
"He's obviously going to be pumped up in his own country," Hewitt said.
"He's a very talented player like most of the French players. He's a
shot-maker.
"You just have to find a way of getting through the first week. Physically,
it's so grinding to play seven best-of-five-set matches on clay.
"Even if you are not playing that well to win it, you just have to hang in
the tournament."
Despite the inevitable leg weariness on clay, Hewitt was looking forward to
a return to the draining five-set matches after a solid few weeks of
three-setters on clay.
He reached the semi-finals at the Hamburg Masters where he lost to French
Open top seed Roger Federer and came from a set down twice last week to beat
Robby Ginepri and Martin Verkerk in the World Teams Cup in Dusseldorf.
But he was realistic about his chances on his least-favoured surface and was
setting his sights modestly on winning a few rounds, rather than lifting the
Coupe de Mousquetaires on June 6.
"It was a great week (in Dusseldorf), I had three tough matches," Hewitt said.
"I feel good about where my game is at. I'd like to have had a better start
in two of the matches but in five sets you can work your way into the match
a little bit better than over three sets.
"I feel confident. I played in patches my best tennis over the last days. I
think I've played well.
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