Currently seeded at number 26 in Wimbledon, Lleyton Hewitt has not won a title since last year in Houston. His first tournament on grass since Queen's in 2006 gave him a rise of six places in the ATP rankings.
The 29 year old is clearly excited to be among the best at Wimbledon. ''It's fantastic for me,'' said Hewitt, after his 28th career title, fourth-best among active players.
Hewitt switched his usual tournament preparation from the Queen's Club at Wimbledon to Germany, and he will continue to practice all week at the All England Club in London. His immediate goal is to ''keep the eye in, just freshen up mentally and physically and get ready obviously for five-set tennis''.
Hewitt said that following his second hip operation, as well as a knee arthroscopy which he endured earlier this year, it is a miracle that already in June he is outdoing his long-time rival Roger Federer on the grass court.
After defeating Roger Federer in Halle during a warm-up match, Hewitt dispersed speculations about his fitness level following his injury and proved once again that his 2002 Wimbledon Cup win was not a fluke.
Asked whether he thought that playing at Wimbledon 2010 was possible, he admitted that he had doubts. ''At that point probably not. So obviously me and my team have done a lot of work,'' said Hewitt, giving acknowledgement to his coach, Nathan Healy, as well as his physiotherapist Ivan Guttierez.
''I don't cut any corners. It would have been easy just to turn up and not have the surgery and say it's too hard to get back, and retire there. But I still feel like I'm a good enough player to compete with these guys. It was a matter of getting my body in as good a shape as possible.''
Clearly, Hewitt has put in his best effort to get up to speed physically, as well as mentally, in order to ensure he is up to par to the likes of Nadal, Roddick, and Federer.
Federer’s endearing quips
With Hewitt back in play, he is now a real threat to other Wimbledon Cup hopefuls, including defending champion Federer. In an interview, Federer said regarding Hewitt’s absence: ''For me he was not really gone, except obviously if he's under the knife with surgery, then you can say, 'Yes he's not around'.''
Federer, currently with six Wimbledon tournament titles, continued to praise Hewitt. ''People write off former world No.1s and former grand slam champions too quickly. You can see why this guy has been at the top for over a year and has won most of the grand slam titles and Masters Cups. These guys are tough. They know how to win, they know how to play well not just for one match but for entire tournaments. And he proved it this week, even though he was close to defeat in the semis. That's what makes him a great champion.''
Hewitt stands with 7-0 in career finals on grass court, and his grass court match wins beat that of any other currently active player, totaling 98.
Hewitt said he is very encouraged by the positive results he’s been having since suffering several injuries earlier in the year.
Today, on June 21st, Hewitt will kick-off the Wimbledon Men’s Singles first round match by playing Argentinean Maximo Gonzales, a non-seeded player on Court 2. Gonzales is an underdog by all counts in this case, and despite Hewitt’s injuries and prolonged time off, he is expected to be a reckoning force on the court, especially after his very welcome victory over challenger Federer several days ago.
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