THE SCOOP: FRIDAY, OCTOBER 10

Hewiit won't play until Davis Cup
Tucker: Stefanki right choice for Dent or Hewitt; Clijsters pressures ITF to change Fed Cup; Justine not afraid of Williamses

By Matthew Cronin
tennisreporters.net

Susan Mullane/ Camerawork USA, Inc.

The Australian's Leo Schlink – a friend of the Hewitt family – reported Lleyton will withdraw from all ATP tournaments the rest of the year to focus on Davis Cup (November 28-30 on grass in Melbourne), abandoning any hopes of defending his Masters Cup title.

Hewitt also withdrew from the SuperSet exo in Portland the week before Davis Cup. Schlink estimates that Hewitt's decision will cost him $362,000 Australian, but it could a potential $1.5 million US is more like it.

Hewitt had a wart removed from his foot and told Shlink that he was still unable to run after being treated with a course of injections.

"At the moment, I can't put too much weight on it and I can't run on it," he said. "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. 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. 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."

Tucker: Stefanki right choice for Dent or Hewitt
Tommy Tucker – pro emeritus at Mission Hills Country Club in Palm Desert, Calif., who's a mentor to a handful of renowned coaches such as Larry Stefanki – says that Tim Henman's ex-coach would really help the likes of Lleyton Hewitt, Taylor Dent or James Blake.

Henman recently ended his relationship with Stefanki, saying that he wanted to go it alone.

"I'd really like to see Larry coach an American and I've told that to the USTA," Tucker said. "Larry helped Marcelo Rios and Yevgeny Kafelnikov to No. 1 and I believe that Henman really improved under him. It's no mystery that Larry really helps guys, but he's not political, so he hasn't been able work something out with US player development. But he's a very hard worker and once he gets with anybody, they like him."

Mission Hills (with Tucker, Jose Higueras and others) has been the site of a December "boot camp" for US pros for years, but won't host as many players this year as the USTA has moved its West Coast Training Center to Carson, near Los Angeles.

Tucker also said that because of Stefanki's work with Henman, the Brit has chance to re-enter the top 10 next year.

"He's really improved and is a much better player than before Larry started with him. He was playing all wrong, modeling his game after Sampras when he didn't have his serve or forehand. But he's a good athlete who improved his forehand and forehand volley with Larry."

Tucker thinks that Stefanki – who played serve-and-volley – would be a good fit for now coach-less Dent and apparently the two have already spoken.

He also believes that Stefanki could aid the struggling Blake (who's coached by Brian Barker) in an advisory role and said that Stefanki and Hewitt would be a good fit.

Hewitt parted ways with coach Jason Stoltenberg after '03 Roland Garros and is now coached by his trainer, Roger Rasheed.

"Hewitt's technical problems are obvious. He needs to put more spin on the ball so he can step up and go after it more," said Tucker, who coached Hewitt's countryman, Mark Woodforde. "Larry wants the right guy who wants to compete and get better."

Speaking of Hewitt, the Melbourne Age's Linda Pearce reports that Hewitt might pull out of the Madrid Masters Series next week, which would all but kill his chances of qualifying for the Houston's Masters Cup. The defending champ will then almost certainly end the year out of the top 10.

Clijsters pressures ITF to change Fed Cup

Susan Mullane/ Camerawork USA, Inc.

As we wrote last week, both Justine Henin-Hardenne and Kim Clijsters have opted out of Fed Cup (which all but ruins the attractiveness of the final) and it sounds like Clijsters is politicking the ITF to make a major chance in the format.

"Justine and I, we both don't agree with a lot of things [about the Fed Cup], with the schedule, also," Clijsters said. "I think the season has already been long, especially having the week off in between the Championships and the Fed Cup makes it even tougher for both of us. I think we are trying to send a statement towards the ITF a little bit and hoping that they could have a little bit of an influence for next year or, if not, for next year, maybe for 2005. I think otherwise they are going to lose a lot more players. ... I would like to see the season a little bit shorter. I know it's tough, but I would like to see the Fed Cup not in the week where it is right now; maybe a few weeks earlier."

Henin-Hardenne cited a variety of reasons for not playing.

"I have many back problems and a little bit on my shoulder, too," she said. "This season has been very long. I played a lot of matches, more than 75 right now. The Fed Cup is very late on the calendar. We talked a lot with my doctors and everybody. I need some rest before my preparation in Florida and my next goal, after the Championships, is to be ready for 2004. Going to Moscow is not a good idea for me. It wasn't an easy decision to make. In the future, we will have to change the date because it's not going to work any more like this. It's going to be very hard for the future of the Fed Cup."

Defending champ Clijsters and Henin-Hardenne will more than likely go into Bank of America season-ending Championships with the No. 1 ranking on the line, which will make the event extremely appetizing. If Serena doesn't play, Justine will have already locked up the player of the year award with her two Slam titles.

No. 1 Clijsters needs to defend her crown if she is gain a further measure of respect for her achievement, which seems miniscule now after her uninspiring performance in the US Open final.

"It's very motivational to be in that situation," Clijsters said. "It's a great feeling. Not only going back as a defending champion and being in the position of keeping my No. 1 ranking. It's great for the whole tennis world."

Unlike Jennifer Capriati, who was devastated for a couple weeks after her loss to Henin-Hardenne, Clijsters said she didn't' have much time for reflection.

"I went to Australia after the US Open and I was so busy there, I hardly had any time to think about it," Capriati said. "Then I went straight back home to play. But it's tough. It's a little bit frustrating as well, losing in the final. Justine played too good. There was not much I could do differently. I don't have that much time to keep thinking about it. I've never really done that. Whenever I've lost big matches, I don't think I'm the type of player who is going to worry. I like to go forward and try to get better; try to give myself 100 percent for the next tournament."

Justine not afraid of Williamses
Neither WTA CEO Larry Scott nor Clijsters have spoken to the Williamses and have no idea if and when they return, although Venus and Serena are entered in Philly and the Championships. Should they play the Championships, Henin-Hardenne and her amped-up game will be waiting for them.

"I'll have to go a little bit to the net for sure," Justine said. "Even if I have got more power this year than last year, I'm not going to beat them on the fast surfaces. In the long run, I totally know that. It's just that I'm not afraid anymore of the rally but I know that if I want to put a lot of pressure on them, I have to go to a little bit more to the net. Being a little bit more aggressive. And I know that my serve is the key in my game. I work very hard on this part of my game right now. I know I have to be more consistent with my serve. I think in 2004 that's what I'm looking for. My serve is going to be more consistent and it's going to help me win easier points. … The thing is, yeah, mentally, I changed my mind and I'm not afraid anymore; it doesn't mean I'm not going to lose (laughs), that I'm going to win all the time against them. When I go on the court I say 'OK, I have a lot of power, too. I know the game I have to play with them and I know sometimes they don't like to play against me, so sometimes it makes a great difference.' "

While that may the case with Serena, Venus has always handled Justine quite nicely.