Tennis: Lleyton Hewitt Says Australian Open Fine In January
January 18th 2009 07:35
Lleyton Hewitt is emphatic about when the Australian Open should be played. Hewitt rejected a proposal to push the Australian Open back into February to allow more time for players to prepare for the first grand slam championships of the year.
And Roger Federer, president of the ATP players' council, backed down on his earlier suggestion to shift the tournament.
Federer and fellow council members Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic had spoken of a possible date switch.
But Hewitt vehemently disagreed with any move.
"I think it's probably the ideal time for Australian sport. This is the time I've always known it as the Australian Open," Hewitt said.
"This is the date that I've always come to, around late January, since I was coming here as a young kid to watch.
"For an Australian, it fits in so well with, obviously, the school holidays and getting kids out there. And I think for the sport of tennis in this country, that really helps as well.
"Young kids can come out and watch a lot of it; even the back courts get a good atmosphere out here.
"It's obviously early in the year. But a lot of overseas players have prepared well enough to win it in the past," Hewitt said.
# Television: Australian Open LIVE on Fox Sports
Federer claimed his initial comments at Kooyong last week were misunderstood.
"What was said was in a perfect world it would be nicer to have a longer Australian swing, move around a little bit. But we don't live in a perfect world," Federer said.
"It's still great to have the Australian Open where it is because we're having record numbers, prizemoney has gone up.
Players love this tournament, every top player has come. It has really become a very, very prestigious grand slam to play. It's basically the players' slam."
Hewitt said Federer was aware of his views not to move the Open, although he hadn't spoken to the other players.
"I'm sure Roger knows. He has had a lot of success here in the past. It (date) hasn't really changed his performance," Hewitt said.
"He's lucky that he has been able to come out after only one or two weeks preparation and still play extremely well.
"But there's a lot more to it than just worrying about the players for a couple of weeks, I guess. The tournament has to worry about, obviously, ticket sales, kids being around the place, a whole lot of other things."
Hewitt adopted a why-worry attitude to the tough first-up assignment against 13th seed Chilean Fernando Gonzalez .
"When you're unseeded, you're thrown in that territory where you don't really know what to expect," Hewitt said.
"Yeah, it's going to be a tough match-up. But the whole time I've been preparing the last couple of months to be ready for whoever I came up against. It was going to be fairly tough anyway."
Hewitt said the hard work to get back after the enforced break from the tour for hip surgery last year had fuelled his desire to climb back up the world rankings.
'If the motivation wasn't there, then I wouldn't be playing. I still feel I can get back into the top 10 and push those better guys at the top," he said.
"I've obviously got to play a lot more matches, get in that rhythm of, hopefully, being 100 per cent fit on the court and playing week-in, week-out as well."
And Roger Federer, president of the ATP players' council, backed down on his earlier suggestion to shift the tournament.
Federer and fellow council members Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic had spoken of a possible date switch.
But Hewitt vehemently disagreed with any move.
"I think it's probably the ideal time for Australian sport. This is the time I've always known it as the Australian Open," Hewitt said.
"This is the date that I've always come to, around late January, since I was coming here as a young kid to watch.
"For an Australian, it fits in so well with, obviously, the school holidays and getting kids out there. And I think for the sport of tennis in this country, that really helps as well.
"Young kids can come out and watch a lot of it; even the back courts get a good atmosphere out here.
"It's obviously early in the year. But a lot of overseas players have prepared well enough to win it in the past," Hewitt said.
# Television: Australian Open LIVE on Fox Sports
Federer claimed his initial comments at Kooyong last week were misunderstood.
"What was said was in a perfect world it would be nicer to have a longer Australian swing, move around a little bit. But we don't live in a perfect world," Federer said.
"It's still great to have the Australian Open where it is because we're having record numbers, prizemoney has gone up.
Players love this tournament, every top player has come. It has really become a very, very prestigious grand slam to play. It's basically the players' slam."
Hewitt said Federer was aware of his views not to move the Open, although he hadn't spoken to the other players.
"I'm sure Roger knows. He has had a lot of success here in the past. It (date) hasn't really changed his performance," Hewitt said.
"He's lucky that he has been able to come out after only one or two weeks preparation and still play extremely well.
"But there's a lot more to it than just worrying about the players for a couple of weeks, I guess. The tournament has to worry about, obviously, ticket sales, kids being around the place, a whole lot of other things."
Hewitt adopted a why-worry attitude to the tough first-up assignment against 13th seed Chilean Fernando Gonzalez .
"When you're unseeded, you're thrown in that territory where you don't really know what to expect," Hewitt said.
"Yeah, it's going to be a tough match-up. But the whole time I've been preparing the last couple of months to be ready for whoever I came up against. It was going to be fairly tough anyway."
Hewitt said the hard work to get back after the enforced break from the tour for hip surgery last year had fuelled his desire to climb back up the world rankings.
'If the motivation wasn't there, then I wouldn't be playing. I still feel I can get back into the top 10 and push those better guys at the top," he said.
"I've obviously got to play a lot more matches, get in that rhythm of, hopefully, being 100 per cent fit on the court and playing week-in, week-out as well."
| 22 |
| Vote |
Add To: 
subscribe to this blog
Go to Craig Hill's home page by clicking here
