ANDRE VS. LLEYTON FOR NO. 1
IN 2002
Hewitt is revved up to repeat as world's best
By Alix Ramsay
For tennisreporters.net
Susan Mullane
Camerawork USA, Inc. |
From the Tennis Masters Cup in Shanghai – He is definitely looking older and, with the light behind him, he even looks a little taller. After 12 months at the top of the heap, Lleyton Hewitt is growing into his role as the world No. 1. He certainly likes life
at the top and, as the Masters Cup gets under way, he has every intention
of staying there.
After a long and gruelling season, the most important question of the
season is still to be answered: Wwho will end the year as the very best in
the business? On the mathematical front, Hewitt arrived in China with an 88
point lead over Andre Agassi, the only man who could snatch pole position
from him before we all break up for Christmas.
In order to guarantee his place as this year's No. 1, Hewitt only need reach
the final. For Agassi to overhaul our hero, he needs to win the title and
hope that Hewitt is eliminated before Sunday. Technically, Agassi could
usurp Hewitt before then but that scenario requires Hewitt to lose every
match he plays in the round robin stage – and that is about as likely as
George Dubya being able to spell Shanghai much less find it on the map.
Hewitt was certainly in a very chirpy mood as he posed for pictures and
answered questions on the eve of the championship. He knows perfectly well
that it is asking a lot for Agassi to knock him off his perch and, after
leading the rankings for so long, he is well aware that most players look
at him in a new light.
"You definitely feel some sort of difference as you walk around the locker
room," he said, "especially now that I'm not the youngest guy in there any
more. I guess I feel that those younger guys are looking up in awe a little
bit at the guys in the top 10 in the world, just like I was when I was 16
and looking at Andre Agassi at the other side of the locker room."
HE'S GOT GAME … AND ATTITUDE
Before anyone should suggest that Hewitt is getting arrogant in his old age
(he is, poor boy, a weather-worn 21), think again. As a skinny lad in baggy
shorts on the court, he gives every impression of being an aggressive
little street urchin, all attitude and testosterone, and the sort of boy a
girl would not happily take home to her mother. In the flesh, as it were,
he is a different character entirely. Sure enough, he can still be prickly
if he chooses and individual, one-on-one interviews with this Wimbledon
champion are still as rare as hen's teeth, but he is really a rather well
brought up young man.
He faced the media feeding frenzy with good grace and a considerable amount
of patience, fielding a random array of questions with thought and not a
little humor. There were the cynical old tennis hacks, regulars of the
circuit with egos the size of the Dordogne, who berated him with such
queries as: Are you still in dispute with the ATP? (apparently, yes, he is); do you really feel like you are the number one? ("Er, yeah, I guess
so"). And then there were the local journalists who were far more
interested in whether he was getting married soon ("No"); but you are
taken, aren't you ("Pretty much, yeah" said while going a deep shade of
pink).
When it comes down to it, Hewitt knows his place in this world, but having
got there, he seems like a kid in a sweet shop – he doesn't know where to
look next.
Susan Mullane
Camerawork USA, Inc. |
"The things that come with being No. 1, I guess it has a lot of positives and
negatives," he said. "There's the amount of time that you've got to spend
doing a lot more things, but also the satisfaction you get from being
called the world's No. 1 tennis player. It's a dream come true for me, for
someone to say that to you. You work so hard for it in your career,
building up through the satellites and challengers, it's sort of a big
relief when you're actually there."
These days he is being mentioned in the same breath as all the Australian
greats and many more besides from all eras of the game, a fact that leaves
Hewitt a little flummoxed and embarrassed. He is that rare beast – a true
champion who values the history of his sport more than he regards his own
achievements.
"It's fantastic that I can sort of be in the same category as those guys –
Rod Laver, Ken Rosewall – for me just to meet those guys, that's a dream,"
he said, sounding just a touch shy. "I'm not even going to put myself in
the same breath as those guys. Sampras, McEnroe, Borg – they're just
unbelievable tennis players. I'm gradually getting up there but there is
definitely a long way to go. I don't really concentrate on trying to win
more Slams than someone else so whatever comes, comes. For me, I feel that
I've succeeded in the sport. I've probably done more than a lot of people
thought I could do, even myself. When you first come on the tour, you don't
know what to expect, you don't know how high you're going to get."
He will open his account Tuesday against Albert Costa, the
Roland Garros champion who has failed to string more than two matches
together since the end of July. Not that Hewitt is taking the Spaniard
lightly. He may have ruffled the feathers of a few hacks over the years,
but he will never show anything other than respect to his colleagues. The
court is slow and Albert will keep him busy on the baseline so he will be
taking tomorrow very seriously indeed. However, Hewitt is here on a
mission.
TURNED THE TRICK LAST YEAR
To have claimed his place as the game's youngest year-ending No. 1 last year,
and to have done it in Sydney in front of a home crowd, was the highlight
of his short career. But to have come through this tough year when he has
been fighting with the after effects of chicken pox – he simple ran out of
steam in the summer – and still to end up as the big cheese could just cap
it all.
"My immune system just hit rock bottom after Wimbledon," he said. "I put
everything, both mentally and physically into Wimbledon this year and, the
day after that, I just hit a wall. I haven't been able to bounce back as
well as I would have liked to. You look at the results I've had since then
– the final of Cincinnati, the final of Paris, semi at the US Open – a lot
of people would probably take that, but I've felt like I've had to dig
deeper and play when I'm not feeling great. I've not played as good tennis
as I would have liked in a lot of those matches. But I'm still sitting as
the No. 1 player in the world so, for me, if I do hang on to No. 1 this year,
it could mean a little bit more."
If Agassi beats him to the No. 1 spot, Hewitt will be furious. Not with
Agassi, not with the ATP (he has other feuds to fight with them), but with
himself for missing his chance. Not that he is likely to tell us about it.
If Agassi wins, he will be a deserving champion. If Hewitt wins, Agassi
will have been a tremendous opponent. That is the way Hewitt is made and
that is the way he sees life.
One day the ATP may learn how to deal with young Mr. Hewitt. They may even
try to resolve his problems with the Australian press, but don't hold your
breath. On the surface he may be touchy but deep down he is a very decent
bloke and, at 21, he is also a very young bloke who will be around for a
very long time. Listening to him talk about the sport that has made him
rich and famous, he is more than willing to give a lot back and that, for
everyone, is a priceless asset.
Should anyone running the sport ever persuade him to talk a little more to
the press, the rest of the world would soon discover that it is pretty
damned hard not to respect Hewitt and very easy to like him. In the
meantime, as he does battle with his childhood hero for that No. 1 ranking,
we are all in for a cracking week.
Alix Ramsay has been covering tennis for British national newspapers
for the past 12 years. She was tennis correspondent of The Times
for three years.
