Hewitt switches focus to grass
PARIS: Lleyton Hewitt hangs up his clay court shoes for another season and admitted that he was relishing the chance to bid for more silverware on the more familiar grass courts of Queens and Wimbledon.
Coming off one of his most successful French Open runs where he equalled his Roland Garros quarter-final best before being ousted 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 by unseeded Argentine Gaston Gaudio, the Australian now sets his sights on grass.
“Obviously for me I draw more confidence and feel good about going into the grass because I've had a pretty good record on it in the past,” said the 2002 Wimbledon and 2001 US Open champion.
“I've always been able to change pretty well. I've won Queen's at least I think three times. And I've always played well there. For some reason I've been able to adjust a little bit better than some of the other people in the past.”
The former World No 1 believes that he has found his touch on clay after winning more clay court matches in the run-up to Roland Garros and helping Australia to the final of the World Team Cup in Dusseldorf a fortnight ago.
At the French Open he beat last year's runner-up Martin Verkerk and Xavier Malisse before being stopped by clay court specialist Gaudio who had beaten him in three sets in Dusseldorf.
“French Open-wise this is probably the best. I played a couple of good matches here in the past. But I think in general my four matches got better and better as the tournament went on,” said Hewitt.
“You know, Verkerk and Malisse, I had to play extremely well to win those two matches and today I just lost to a guy who was too good.”
But World No. 12 Hewitt believes that Australian tennis, including their Davis Cup chances, could be improved if there were more clay courts in the country.” – AFP
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