Committed To The Cup: Hewitt Sacrifices Sc …
Committed To The Cup: Hewitt Sacrifices Schedule For Davis Cup Dream
By Richard Pagliaro
10/10/2003
In a singular sport, Lleyton Hewitt is taking one for the team. The former
No. 1 is sacrificing his shot of claiming his third consecutive Tennis Masters
Cup title by investing the rest of his season in Australia's preparation to
capture the Davis Cup championship.
The Wimbledon winner will withdraw from next week's Tennis Masters Series-
Madrid as well as the BNP Paribas Masters in Paris, where he was runner-up to
Marat Safin last year. The 22-year-old Adelaide resident received treatment
for a wart on his right foot last week and is resting the foot before beginning
practice on grass to prepare for Australia's showdown with Spain in the Davis
Cup final set for November 28-30th staged on a portable grass court at Rod
Laver Arena in Melbourne.
"At the moment, I can't put too much weight on it and I can't run on it,"
Hewitt told Leo Schlink of The Advertiser. "But I'm on the bike and swimming.
The foot was not a huge dilemma. It was bothering me some of the time, but I
thought if I had it done now, I'd be right for the Davis Cup final."
In pulling out of the Masters Series events, Hewitt is essentially pulling the
plug on his season and surrendering any chance he has of qualifying for the
season-ending Tennis Masters Cup, scheduled for November 10-16th at Houston's
Westside Tennis Club. Currently in 10th place in the ATP Champions Race with
290 points, Hewitt trails ninth-place Mark Philippoussis (321 points),
eighth-place David Nalbandian (358 points), seventh-place Carlos Moya
(398 points) and sixth-place Rainer Schuettler (535 points) for one of the
final three spots in the Tennis Masters Cup. Andy Roddick, Juan Carlos Ferrero,
Andre Agassi, Roger Federer and Guillermo Coria have all qualified for the
season-ending event.
Skipping the Masters Series events as well as the Superset Tennis exhibition
in Portland, which likely would have paid him a significant appearance fee,
means Hewitt is forgoing the opportunity to cash in on sizeable appearance
fees and potential prize money in favor of supporting Australia's quest to
capture its 28th Davis Cup. Hewitt, who has feuded with the ATP hierarchy
since he was hit with a fine for declining to do a pre-match interview at
the Tennis Masters Series-Cincinnati last year, may feel more motivated
playing for an Australian cause than in an ATP event. Playing for Australia's
first Davis Cup since 1999 and the possibility of avenging Australia's loss
to Spain in the 2000 final was a priceless prospect for Hewitt.
"I could have kept playing and if I was playing for the dollars ?and I could
have got a lot of dollars by going to Europe ?you could end up jeopardizing
your Davis Cup preparations, which is not what you want to do," Hewitt told
Schlink. "Davis Cup is a huge consideration for me. I could go over there
(Europe) and chase (rankings) points to play the Masters Cup but, even if I
did, that wouldn't give me enough time to get back to Australia and prepare
properly for the Davis Cup final. It's not every day you get to play in a
home Davis Cup final and I want to be ready for it."
An inspired Hewitt created the greatest comeback of his career with a
captivating 5-7, 2-6, 7-6(4), 7-5, 6-1 victory over Federer in the Davis Cup
semifinals last month that lifted Australia to the Davis Cup final for the
fourth time in the past five years. Federer held a two-set lead and served
for the match at 5-3 in the third set before Hewitt's heroic comeback.
When the match was over, an ecstatic Hewitt leaped high in the air as the
capacity crowd in Rod Laver Arena erupted in a resounding roar of support.
"This beats the hell out of winning Wimbledon and the U.S. Open. These are
the matches I play for," Hewitt said. "I think everyone knows how passionate
I am about Davis Cup and even if you had won Wimbledon or the U.S. Open, the
feeling I had out there on the Centre Court serving for that match, you just
want to box that up and keep it forever. It's the most electric feeling you
could ever have."
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※ 編輯: LleyHewitt 來自: 61.217.181.169 (10/10 14:44)
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