Hewitt spurred on by the eye of the Tiger

The word on Lleyton Hewitt’s fitness had been so bleak that anyone turning up at Court One yesterday might have expected him to arrive on crutches or at least joined at his dodgy hip by an equally dodgy physiotherapist.

But that is very much not the Hewitt way. He is the Black Knight of tennis, someone who, in the manner of Monty Python’s limbless anti-hero, would not even admit to a flesh wound when bleeding to death.

Lleyton Hewitt plays Roger Federer in the last 16 on Monday

His background is Aussie rules when even the women are men and bandages are for exhaust pipes. ‘I don’t complain about injuries too much,’ he said yesterday after reaching a fourth-round tie against Roger Federer.

‘That comes from a football background. You do not show when you are hurt. It’s the same out on court. Very rarely do I give away signs if I am hurting at all. It is a sign of weakness. I play my cards close to my chest.’

Needless to say given such a philosophy, the keen golfer was more than impressed by the performance of Tiger Woods in winning the U.S. Open. ‘I love watching Tiger play. What he did was incredible. No one else on this planet could have done that.’

It is premature, of course, but if Hewitt could end Federer’s unbeaten run on grass and go all the way, there would be a comparison with Woods.

Showing nothing of his chronic hip problem, the Australian positively trotted through a straight set 6-1, 6-3, 7-6 victory over Italian Simone Bolelli.

Perfection in anything can be illusory and tennis is no different. But Hewitt got pretty close in the opening set. But for two unforced errors his play was flawless in execution and daring in conception.

Hewitt wrapped up the first set in under half an hour and did not require all that much longer to secure the second. Only in the third was he stretched, though not anywhere near his considerable breaking point.

Just this week wrinkled coach Nick Bollettieri was lavishing praise on the Aussie.
‘If I had to pick a single person on tour to have in my foxhole in a war, it’s Lleyton Hewitt. He is a relentless battler,’ said Bollettieri.

He will need all of those battling qualities, and more, to cope with the imperious Federer on Monday. But if you repeatedly hear the exhortation ‘C’mon’ from a little guy in itchy shorts and reversed cap coming from Centre Court on Monday, a sensation will be unfolding.