The Lleyton Hewitt Dilemma: Grass May Be the Solution

By
at Internationaled.org

Published: June 10, 2010

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A good player, or even a great player, can’t avoid facing the game’s best players in the early rounds if he doesn’t improve his ranking.

But how can he improve his ranking if he keeps running into the game’s best players in the early rounds? I call it the Hewitt dilemma.

For Lleyton Hewitt, a winner of both Wimbledon and US Open titles, and the guy who spent all of 2002 at No. 1, the recent majors have been an exercise in frustration.

Since 2006 he’s not only been through hip surgery, causing him to miss the 2008 US Open, but he has also faced Rafael Nadal four times at Roland Garros, none of which took place after the round of 16.

Since 2008, he’s also faced Roger Federer at the 2008 Wimbledon, the 2009 US Open, and the 2010 Australian Open.

He lost no sets in lead-up to those matches with Federer, but the only set he won against The Great Swiss came in last year’s USO.

He surprised more than a few when he took a set from Rafael Nadal in the 2006 RG, but won none from the Spaniard in their subsequent Parisian meetings.

The game has come a long way since the 2001-02 period, when Pete Sampras, Andre Agassi and Patrick Rafter’s careers were winding down, Marat Safin’s was stagnant and those of Federer, Andy Roddick, and Juan Carlos Ferrero had yet to bloom.

(Nadal, at the time, was 15 going on 16.)

Hewitt’s greatest skill was never the sheer velocity behind his serve or his forehand, but rather his speed, his consistency and his accuracy. Much to the dismay of Sampras, Rafter and Tim Henman, that accuracy translated into remarkably effective passing shots.

Baseliners like Roddick, Agassi and even Federer had a different dilemma, as Hewitt had a knack for extending points long enough to either force errors or suddenly switch to offense.

In 2002, those skills were good enough to make him No. 1 for more than a...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Tennis

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