My sister made an interesting observation about Lleyton Hewitt today as we were discussing his latest loss. She wonders whether he is so concerned about the process of being a 'tennis player' that he has actually forgotten how to go out there and simply enjoy himself. Considering how tightly wound he gets on the court when things aren't going his way I have to think that perhaps my sister is close to the mark in her assessment. It's hard being everything you want to be, everything everybody else wants you to be and then some. The Australia summer tournaments only heighten the expectation so is it any wonder it usually ends in disappointment for Lleyton. Perhaps the guy is human afterall.
As an Australian tennis fan I find the hardest part of my job is to keep coming up with reasons to cheer him. One minute I love him, the next I want to throw things at him. As with all Aussie sporting teams and champions Lleyton seems to only really get respect from fans here if he is winning matches. If he strikes out a couple of times at major events the knives start digging in and I will be honest - my knife has been sharpened on occasion and used on a few more. I hate bagging the guy but sometimes he makes it hard to love him. Sometimes I wonder if his mother even loves him. It's not so much that he is simply losing it's more the manner, both physically and mentally, that he loses. I watched him play Chris Guccione at the Medibank International yesterday and found myself once again lamenting the opportunities he refused to take (kudos to Guccione on a great match by the way!). When Little Lleyton comes up against a flashy big hitter (as he has in the past 2 weeks) he seem ill equipt to a) deal with their power and b) adjust his game accordingly and the big one - take some risks of his own. Sure, Lleyton would counter that by saying that it's not in his nature on a tennis court to take those big risks he all about the consistency, counter punching and wearing down of an opponent. Unfortunately for Lleyton the game has changed in the last 5-10 years and now we have big, powerful, flashy players who aren't gonna miss as often as they used to and the Lleyton's of this world are being hit off the court.
I was a little confused when Lleyton declared that he was the better player in yesterday's match. A little wishful thinking on his part. I would love to know his first serve percentage to start with!
If I had a dollar for everytime I have screamed "hit your backhand down the line" during a viewing of a Lleyton match I would be a millionaire many times over (that's how many of his matches I've watched!). Hewitt keeps talking about making subtle changes to his game under the guidance of Australian tennis legend and much respected tennis coach Tony Roche but perhaps subtle is not enough if the results from the last 2 weeks are anything to go by. I am now beginning to fear that his game can no longer cut the mustard - so to speak. Some Australian journalists and tennis experts are still predicting great things for Hewitt and I have still hoped in the past few years that he can find his way back to the top but perhaps the game has surpassed Lleyton Hewitt (as a top ten player anyway) with it's tall, strong flashy players, slow medium courts and heavy tennis balls.
Even if Lleyton were to find a way to get more first serves in, play closer to the baseline, avoid rallying down the center of the court with the ball bouncing short of the service line, employs his excellent slice backhand and underappreciated volleying skills and hit his damn backhand down the line more often it's still hard to see him finding a place in the Top Ten right now. There's Roger, Rafa, Andy, Novak, Andy Braveheart not to mention a myriad of talented players outside that group who all strike the ball with more authority and strength than Lleyton. His competitive edge was always his unnerving approach to the battle at hand. He would run all day, abuse linesmen, shout 'come ons' - he was tennis' bulldog and it intimidated a lot of his fellow players. But along with change in the game came changes to Lleyton's life as well. Marriage and fatherhood with Aussie actress Bec Cartwright. Although he's still a grumpy SOB most of the time there is now a softer side to Lleyton, whether he is willing to admit it or not. His focus is not 100% on tennis any longer and quite frankly it shouldn't be. He's a dad and by all accounts a great one at that. His attentiveness to Mia during a TV interview at Wimbledon last year was touching and more and more often you are seeing a smile on the face of Lleyton and it's good to see but has that smile been robbing him of his intensity as a tennis player?? Is he genuinely torn about where his priorities lie?? Could one even theorise that this could be causing him to be overly concerned with the in's and out's of his job rather than simply enjoying his tennis?? His life is really full right now - it shouldn't be considered a bad thing but it must weigh on him heavily.
I'll keep cheering and jeering him - he's the kind of player who does that to you but perhaps my next knife will be sharpened with a different perspective!
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