By Jayita A Belcourt
Lleyton Hewitt is undoubtedly one of Australia’s greatest tennis players of the modern era. As a former world number 1 and with 2 grand slam titles under his belt, Hewitt’s talent and experience is vast. Unsurprisingly, following his retirement in 2016, he was quickly snapped up as an asset for Tennis Australia appointed team captain for the Australian Davis Cup and now the ATP Cup. But Hewitt’s role has not come without controversy. In recent years, Hewitt has been at the receiving end of a string of allegations from players like Bernard Tomic who accused him of intimidation, favouritism and even blackmail. At the Australian Open in 2019, the headlines splashed throughout the media with such a strong stench like “no one likes him anymore” and suggestions that Hewitt had acted “illegally” and “ruined the system”, that many wondered how Hewitt and Tennis Australia would bounce back.
Yet, as the sky turned red in parts of Australia’s apocalyptic bushfire conditions, in contrast, any reputational tarnish was certainly wiped and forgotten this week for the 38-year old during the ATP Cup in Brisbane. Championing two wins for team Australia over Team Canada and Team Germany, the praises and smiles from Hewitt’s players couldn’t have been brighter.
John Millman, who secured a comfortable win for team Australia against Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime in straight sets 6-4, 6-2 to kickstart the second tie following a last-minute call to replace an injured Nick Kyrios, expressed deep appreciation for his Aussie captain.
“I love having Lleyton in the corner… You won’t find someone that’s more passionate about tennis than Lleyton. And I admired so much his game and his tenacity, and what he showed on the court is exactly how he is off the court.”
Indeed, Hewitt was certainly known for being a feisty, competitive, determined player. Someone who would grind you down and never give up. And that’s exactly the energy that was on display as he sat consistently and patiently courtside throughout his nation’s matchups in Brisbane. It was almost like he too was playing and toying with the world’s best through his players.
Whilst some may see this as negative or even controlling, it’s far from the opinion of his players. As highlighted by Millman “he’s [Lleyton] tenacious and he’s got that never say die attitude that we will have as Australians and he’s someone that, I guess the best way to describe it is, he’s someone that when you go out you look over to the box and you see him giving you a bit of a fist pump, you know he’s in your corner. And that’s what so great about these team competitions is that you can draw upon legends like that and also the support staff. They play every shot with us out there and that’s what makes these team competitions so unique and special”.
Millman’s thoughts were echoed by rising star Alex De Minaur describing his team captain as “awesome”, “supportive” and “encouraging”. The 20-year-old world 18 had a tight 3 set battle with Canada’s world number 15 Dennis Shapovalov in his nation’s second clash at the ATP Cup. After losing a heartbreaking first set tiebreaker and down 2-4 in the second, De Minaur was able to recompose and dig deep to clinch a stunning three set victory 6-7(6), 6-4, 6-2 for team Australia. Throughout the match, Lleyton remained visibly calm and positive, clenching his fists in the pivotal moments and echoing words of encouragement when the youngster was running low on emotional fuel.
Of De Minaur, Hewitt remarked “I’m so proud of the way Alex was able to hang in there. He was going to get an opportunity at some stage and he was able to take that. He had a bit of a flat spot there but after you lose a tight first set, that was always going to happen. He went on with it in the third set.”
Yes, it seems Lleyton’s insights and in-depth psychological knowledge of his players and the game itself is really cementing Australia as a formidable opponent. So, with a string of talent at his disposal with the likes of Nick Kyrios and Alex De Minaur, is Hewitt’s input and energy able to give Australia the edge it needs to take out this year’s inauguration of the ATP Cup?
Up next, Australia will face team Greece on Tuesday 7 January. Should they secure even one win from three matches, they will process to the ATP Cup quarter-finals in Sydney.
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« Previous 1 2 3 4 5 Next »Jon King · January 7, 2020 at 10:15 am
Scoop, I think from the voice one of the announcers was Jimmy Arias, not sure who the other was.
I agree on WTA. I like watching several of the players.
But the fact is the girls compete too early. Once they have junior success they do not vary their games one bit. The result is most girls matches in top juniors like Orange Bowl, Eddie Herr, and then at colleges and most pros look identical. Its quite boring.
Jon King · January 7, 2020 at 10:22 am
By the way, this is not the girl’s fault one bit. The parents want them to win early. The coaches get one girl who wins early and tout her to others to get more students. The coaches and academies funnel girls into backing up, baseline play, set patterns, while the boys are encouraged to develop slices, play inside the baseline if possible, and play differently.
Zoo Tennis and other sites tout girls who win at age 10 or 11 or 12. By 13 some of these girls with junior success are mini tennis celebrities.
So a girl wins and gets attention and praise by playing a safe style. Why on earth would she ever develop variety?
catherine · January 7, 2020 at 10:24 am
Scoop – The women are in Brisbane because they were there before the ATP Cup was thought of and the schedule isn’t infinitely expandable. They have every right to be there. Otherwise most women’s events are separate from men. So what’s the problem ?
Both women and men have down eras. And why are you mentioning Kerber ? She’ll be gone next year.
No reason the WTA should have a new Cup, there already is one and it’s the Fed Cup which the ITF is doing it’s best to destroy. Equality has nothing to do with it.
catherine · January 7, 2020 at 10:31 am
Hartt – men have plenty of tournaments. I’m sure Brisbane won’t be missed.
And Barty is a nice person and a fine player but she’s not one to rock the boat. She’d play the final on court 15 if she was told to. She said as much.
Harold · January 7, 2020 at 10:43 am
Not an expert on Junior girls tennis, but the age rule might have changed things a bit. Tried to keep girls
from becoming Capriati, luckily she turned it around
Hingis wins Junior Wimby at 14 or something, by 15 she’s on the pro tour winning. Williams sisters basically blew off Juniors, and were on tour by age 15.
After Capriati went off the rails, the rules changed. They didn’t change because Austin and Jaeger were injured, or burnt out by their late teens.
Let’s be real. If Coco G was white, she’s not getting a tenth of the hype or WC’s. She’s be at the Orange Bowl, or Herr if she was white.
Samsonova actually tried getting to net, if she didn’t serve 14 DF’s she’d have straight settled Stephens
Hartt · January 7, 2020 at 10:52 am
Catherine, I miss the men in Brisbane. Both Fed and Milos have had some great matches there. 🙂
And I suspect many other fans do as well. Like Hopman Cup, it was sacrificed for the ATP Cup.
Scoop Malinowski · January 7, 2020 at 10:59 am
Harold, wrong, Venus and Serena failed in their first attempts to play WTA, failed in qualies, Serena took a year off then returned and won some matches. But they did not have instant results like Gauff did. I agree, if Coco was white she would not be getting all this attention and special privileges. The American estabishment, media wants the next Arthur Ashe/Serena Williams, not the next Andre Agassi/Chris Evert. Caty Mcnally gets 1/100th of the attention Coco gets.
catherine · January 7, 2020 at 11:03 am
Hartt – blame the ATP. And blame the ATP for the Hopman Cup which was a massive sellout, very popular partly because it was a mixed event. Something rare.
ATP Cup pushed aside the women in Brisbane and I think a lot of the bad feeling comes from the players not being consulted. Blame the WTA – I’d be happy to.
ATP Cup should have its own venues.
Harold · January 7, 2020 at 11:12 am
Venus got to a US Open final at 17.. that’s failure? At 14 and 15 she lost matches. Big whoop, by 17 she’s playing a GS final.
SW same..
I always thought the Williams’s avoided Juniors for fear of drug testing, but Jon K says there’s no testing. My opinion was Papa Williams tried two HGH’s, one turned out a 6”2 girl, one a physical beast
Hartt · January 7, 2020 at 11:13 am
They do need to find a better solution for the WTA playing Brisbane. True, Ash wouldn’t complain about being on an outer court, but fans would have lots to say if they couldn’t get tickets to her match while France was playing South Africa on the main court (tomorrow night’s matches).
By starting some of the women so late those women will need to play every day if they make the final, with no break at all.
Jon King · January 7, 2020 at 12:05 pm
It’s funny people mentioned Gauff getting attention because of her race. Junior girls are mostly white but the black girls who do show up are interesting. Their parents all act like they have the next Serena. They can have by far the least talented girl in a group but every time they talk like their girl is vastly superior in her potential than any other girl. If they lose badly first round of a tournament does not shake them one bit. Their girls are better, no matter the results.
Andrew Miller · January 7, 2020 at 12:11 pm
Harold, guess I’m trying to express that if Berdych had more attributes in the the mental toughness department (which I think De Minaur has) then he’d have a slam to his name or another very notable result. Berdych has ONE Masters title to his name, way back in 2005 on a fast indoor surface (Paris).
If De Minaur had more power I think he’d be intimidating and have more options out there. Then again if he had more brute power he probably wouldn’t scramble for every ball. These guys do what they do well. Not much improvement going on other than being themselves and “playing my game” (just do what they do).
Michael Joyce suggested this is the fastest way up the rankings – just do what you’re good at and be fit enough and consistent enough to do it given the competition may not be as dedicated. Surprised that he said this but there you have it.
Now that De Minaur is up there in the rare air of the top 30, I think he could benefit from some strength training. He doesn’t blow opponents away, but he has a nice serve and maybe even a dreaded racquet switch would help him, so he’s the same person but he has more oomph.
Just don’t give him a Yonex…the guy needs all the power he can get 🙂
Andrew Miller · January 7, 2020 at 12:14 pm
Catherine, yes Kr. Pliskova over Sabalenka. I thought it would be K. Pliskova and Sabalenka could get a nice win there (I sort of describe to the Andreescu, “BUT IT’S PLISKOVA!” sentiment here).
That said and as you are saying, the loss of Sabalenka’s father must be devastating to her. Players don’t just rebound, they are people and that’s earth shattering. I had thought given it was China she’d rev her game up, but with something so huge weighing on her that would be impossible. And so young! 44 years old (young families).
Andrew Miller · January 7, 2020 at 12:21 pm
There is no “next Serena Williams” or “next Venus Williams”. There was a whole legion of excellent players that game up in the U.S. behind Althea Gibson and inspired by her example. Sloane Stephens, from the tennis hotbed of Atlanta (and so too many a Georgia player no matter who they are) has done well (she is talented, but not always dedicated). I am reminded by what John Isner, another Georgia guy, said when asked how it is to have U.S. men’s tennis doing (well or badly or becoming young or whatever) – that he said basically, it’s me out there and I want to do well myself.
That’s tennis.
That said the sport has been stupid in the U.S. for few to no attempts to recruit many kinds of athletes or attract many kinds of athletes to the sport, or once getting multi-sport athletes failing to keep them (losing them to name your sport).
Let’s face it it’s not that hard to begin playing tennis. Wal-Mart costs for racquets and balls are pretty cheap overall. There’s not much interest in the sport and there’s been a full on retreat. It is disheartening.
Andrew Miller · January 7, 2020 at 12:32 pm
Williams as juniors:
“[Venus] Williams held a 63–0 record on the United States Tennis Association junior tour and was ranked No. 1 among the under-12 players in Southern California”.
“[Serena] Williams had a 46–3 record on the United States Tennis Association junior tour and was ranked number one among under-10 players in Florida.”
They were pretty small way back then in the 1990s. Serena was a little stronger, more stout. Venus was thin as rails. It was as if they survived on saltines 🙂
Met them then. Met them later. Then they were thin and small and kind. Then later they were tall and strong and decent. Then after that tall and tough and still kind. Yeah, I have met them three times. Took a while to remember.
Their dad, three times also.
Andrew Miller · January 7, 2020 at 12:37 pm
Jon, to me U.S. women’s tennis hasn’t done much in a long time – especially since Davenport, Capriati, the Williams.
Sloane Stephens has the lone slam for U.S. women in singles outside of Capriati, Williams dating back to 1999.
That actually doesn’t look so good as compared with the men’s side of the ledger – it’s marginally better given that the Williams and Capriati are “legacy champions” who came from a different time and place – players basically from the mid 1990s.
If we believe that men’s tennis in the U.S. has been in a tailspin (which it has been, of sorts, even given the herculean efforts of Querrey and Isner at Wimbledon with their semifinal showings in recent years), consider the women’s tour without the Williams.
The women’s tour without Williams, and considering the U.S. women, is marginally stronger than the men’s tour of the mid 1980s when looking beyond McEnroe and Connors.
USTA shouldn’t be proud of promoting successful competition because it has not and it is obvious. This is a dead subject and should be as tennis only survives in pockets in the U.S., no reasonable expectations otherwise.
Andrew Miller · January 7, 2020 at 12:49 pm
Updating fact on U.S. women’s tennis and slam champs since 1999: Serena Williams, Davenport, Williams and Williams, and Capriati.
If you go beyond this and include former U.S. players that brings in Mary Pierce.
Hartt · January 7, 2020 at 1:02 pm
Andrew, I think you will enjoy this quote from Fed (especially the part about weaknesses) from an article on one of your favourite tennis websites (Tennis World)
Asked about getting closer to the end of his career, Roger replied:
“It is real. It also has the function of arousing other feelings. Thanks to it, I feel, for example, gratitude for everything I have experienced. It also motivates me, pushes me to imagine how to save myself or reinvent myself to stay even longer on the circuit.
And then it’s good for me to move on with my fears. A tennis player must know his strengths and weaknesses. If you ignore your weaknesses, if you take yourself for the best, you will be punished. It’s very important to develop a healthy self-confidence.
Confidence is based on good self-knowledge. As a player and as a person. Weaknesses are part of the picture.”
Scoop Malinowski · January 7, 2020 at 1:17 pm
Harold, yes they got there at 17 but look at 15 and 16 results, not so great. Gauff’s are better. Gauff is ahead of both Ws at same age.
Jon King · January 7, 2020 at 1:21 pm
USTA always says they are growing tennis. Yet the parks can’t convert courts to pickleball fast enough around here. The junior tournaments that had fields of over 100 about 8
years ago now draw around 70 kids.
Scoop Malinowski · January 7, 2020 at 1:23 pm
Not sure these Federer quotes say anything. It’s like reworking cliches to a cliche question about retirement. Not sure if there is anything in those quotes of value. Stay humble, try to be the best, work hard, try to improve every day…
Hartt · January 7, 2020 at 1:32 pm
Scoop, Andrew has been talking about players not working on their weaknesses, so I thought what Fed said about weaknesses was interesting. “If you ignore your weaknesses, if you take yourself for the best, you will be punished.”
Scoop Malinowski · January 7, 2020 at 1:46 pm
What is Federer’s weakness? Or what are his weaknesses?
Harold · January 7, 2020 at 1:49 pm
Vitas G was top 10 until the mid 80’s, and if you’re going to take credit for Mary Pierce being American, then let’s take Greenwhich Lendl as American..
There was a drought for 2 or 3 years between the career heights of Mac and Connors to the Agassi/ Sampras/ Courier gang..not the 16 years( and counting) between Roddick and a slam
Still think Fritzy is gonna win majors? Laughable
catherine · January 7, 2020 at 1:52 pm
Something I can’t criticise the WTA for: making donations to the Aust Red Cross disaster relief fund in various ways, including an event before the AO featuring some of the top players.
catherine · January 7, 2020 at 1:55 pm
Harold – Lendl has been a US citizen since the 80s so why not ?
Andrew Miller · January 7, 2020 at 1:58 pm
Hartt, Federer says it best. If anyone is interested, in the documentary on Federer and Nadal called “Strokes of Genius” (yes, Jon Wertheim’s documentary based on book of same name) Nadal and Federer both are talking about the adjustments they make after matches and annually (etc etc etc) and about how they continue to change their games (etc etc etc) and work on things. “Change or Die”.
For them it’s existential until “the game is up”. They seriously live and eat and breath tennis as it’s their oxygen and so too the competitive fire that drives them.
Another reason Jelena Gencic, who passed away, said Djokovic was special. He had the inner drive and the inner drive can be used to punish yourself or it can be used to move the player to improve, etc.
I wish players would watch the documentary. The top players to me are nutcases but because this is their profession and because the young guys say they want in on the glory, no short cuts.
Andrew Miller · January 7, 2020 at 2:14 pm
Harold I almost threw in Americapova but held back (just kidding. I did not throw in Sugarpova – you might as well throw in hundreds of pro players training in Florida if we’re going to go there!)
As for Mary P. it was because her dad’s a U.S. citizen and she was a U.S.T.A. sponsored player after departing fair Canada but before she decided vive la France.
Andrew Miller · January 7, 2020 at 2:21 pm
Fritz a mystery. That said, 2019, his best year and no shame putting up a good year last year, totally respectable. Not sure he can make it to Mardy Fish’s top ten level, but to his credit Fritz has done much better since a year ago today.
Can’t handicap him much further – not sure what drives him given his game is what it is. As of now he strikes me as a Gambill type of player. Respectable.
Hartt · January 7, 2020 at 3:01 pm
Scoop, there were things Fed needed to improve, and did work on. For example,his net game had deteriorated, so he brought in Edberg to help with that, as well as be a mentor. As we know, Rafa used to feast on the Fed BH, and even Robert Federer said Roger should hit over it more than he did. It took getting comfortable with the larger racquet before Fed finally made that shot into a weapon against Rafa (and other players as well).
If only Fed were better at converting BPs! One poster, a Fed fan, used to say that Roger never met a BP that did not play hard to get. However, he did become better at making challenges. 🙂
Andrew Miller · January 7, 2020 at 3:37 pm
Not feeling “sorry” for Federer. These guys are the greediest tennis players in history. The young guys should recognize what they are up against, play coy and chase the big fellas to the ends of the earth like Connors did with Borg.
Nadal’s model is the best out there. Always deny that you are interested in anything (records, slam titles, etc). Then proceed to win everything in sight.
I wish the young men more ruthlessness in pursuit of big titles. Shapo may have a little bit of it, there’s something stirring with the Youzhny change.
Andrew Miller · January 7, 2020 at 3:41 pm
Are they ruthless enough? Willing to depose their childhood heroes (which Federer once said was pretty upsetting to do, as in it wasn’t enjoyable?) That’s the question for them.
catherine · January 7, 2020 at 3:59 pm
Andrew – Borg retired before Connors could chase him very far. I don’t remember young men being that ruthless. They were good players but not really a seething writhing mass of baretoothed ferocity. In the next couple of years things will change. It’s a little unusual, having 3 players so dominant for such a long time and may not happen again. I wouldn’t blame the young guys.
Hartt · January 7, 2020 at 4:09 pm
Milos was asked in an interview how he felt about beating Fed, and he replied something like, “I finally beat the guy.”
Harold · January 7, 2020 at 5:15 pm
That Borg, MAC and Connors era was real short, Borgs retirement, and the other two weren’t really playing for big titles after 84 against each other.
Borg and Mac were doing exo tours together. That was the era of exo tours, one nighters, mucho dinero, Rock Stars…. Mac Over America was the name of one. Connors did some with Borg, saw one in Florida..the tour matches were intense, but they were all out in bars on 3rd Ave and 77th street, when they were in NY
Andrew Miller · January 7, 2020 at 6:11 pm
True, change is afoot. But the new guys should learn from the failures of their predecessors. Harold put it best a little while ago: the other “next” generations that couldn’t top these dominant players.
Andrew Miller · January 7, 2020 at 6:20 pm
Notable results from wta
Brisbane
Kvitova d. Pavlyuchenkova. Final two set “wipe-out”.
Bertens d. Yastremska in 3.
Kontaveit d. Hsieh in 2, 6-1 in second.
Brady d. Sharapova in 3. Can’t see Sharapova stomaching these losses.
Pliskova: donates $200 per ace for wildfire victims.
Andrew Miller · January 7, 2020 at 6:23 pm
Coco Vandeweghe: wins wildcard through her challenger results. Glad to see her back. I like CocoV, and all Cocos, woof.
Scoop Malinowski · January 7, 2020 at 6:27 pm
I heard Fritz say he thinks he can be no. 1 in the world. They showed the clip on Tennis Channel.
Hartt · January 7, 2020 at 7:07 pm
Bertens was asked about Yastremska taking a medical time out when she was losing and Bertens replied that she had played Yastremska 3 times and she’d done it every time. This is a pattern for Yastremska and I doubt it wins her any friends among the other players.
Scoop Malinowski · January 7, 2020 at 7:14 pm
Predict Kerber will call Yastremska a “drama queen” before Wimbledon. I just noticed Raonic is playing doubles in Doha. Interesting that he chose to play doubles in Doha than be a part of Team Canada in ATP Cup. Very interesting. Seems Raonic doesn’t want to be a part of the Team Canada nucleus. Or they don’t want him.
Hartt · January 7, 2020 at 7:25 pm
Scoop, there is nothing dramatic about Milos not playing the ATP Cup. Only the top 2 singles players in a country get to play singles at the ATP Cup, the others are just alternates and may not even get to play, unless there is an injury. Several players, who are the third players in their countries, such as Tsonga, Rublev and Opelka, have complained about this.
As they said, they have a high ranking, but many players at the ATP Cup have relatively low rankings because their countries don’t have a lot of depth. Opelka also pointed out that the players at the ATP Cup get to count it as an additional tourney, a 19th, when all the other players can only count 18 tourneys for their rankings. This seems totally unfair.
Scoop Malinowski · January 7, 2020 at 7:31 pm
Opelka was supposed to be part of team USA wasn’t he?
Harold · January 7, 2020 at 7:42 pm
Tsonga, Rublev and Opelka their Countries #3, are not happy
The women aren’t happy
Tsitsipas father has whiplash, from ducking his sons racquet. What an A hole!
Tsitsipas gamesmanship is fairly annoying, has a habit of playing dumb on ball changes, going for a racquet after going on court. Kyrgios was not happy every time he pulled it
Andrew Miller · January 7, 2020 at 7:57 pm
Rublev complained about ATP Cup, Nadal and Federer complained about ATP Cup and want it to combine with Davis Cup (and I want it all gone – keep Laver Cup because it was more fun than expected, and keep Davis Cup with home and aways so players get the kind of real world tests they need – no pressure like Davis Cup).
Seriously, this many team competitions in a span of 90 days.
Andrew Miller · January 7, 2020 at 9:16 pm
Barty has the right message on the fires. That said, wonder what will happen with the players. Not sure they can play under these conditions. That would be something if the Australian becomes “mostly” indoors, in and of itself. It is indoors sometimes but not most of the time.
Andrew Miller · January 7, 2020 at 9:33 pm
Kyrgios was brilliant versus Tsitsipas. Still: it’s a low-pressure team competition, and this is where Kyrgios tends to shine. It’s going to be hard to ever give the guy the benefit of the doubt for high stakes competitions. He’s got all the talent in the world – and all the back problems, and then the rest of what makes him.
Jeff · January 7, 2020 at 10:57 pm
Ridiculous to compare the US men to women. You can’t not include the Williams. How good are the Swiss men minus Federer and Wawrinka? Stephens won a Slam, Keys reached a final and up and comers like Kenin, Collins and Riske.
I do think Fritz has potential to be Slam finalist. Tommy Paul has big potential Tiafoe and Opelka will disappoint.
catherine · January 8, 2020 at 12:57 am
Riske, Collins and Keys go through in Brisbane. Bouchard wins in Auckland – could this be the beginning of Genie’s comeback ?
Yastremska isn’t impressing me – posy IGs and teaming up with Bajin both look bad ideas. Sascha isn’t ageing well either. I suspect we won’t hear much more of him as a top coach.
catherine · January 8, 2020 at 1:07 am
Mind you, Genie bt Garcia and who can’t beat Caroline these days ? She’s a heroine for France in doubles but otherwise just bleached bones washed up on the shores of Might Have Been, a well-populated country.