Lleyton Hewitt to feature in the French Open 2012 – Tennis Special
Former world number one, Lleyton Hewitt, is given a wildcard entery to the second Grand Slam tournament of the year, the Roland Garros French Open, starting later this month. He will join the first round participants and contest
for one of the most coveted titles in the world of tennis.
Two-time Grand Slam champion from Australia was struggling to recover before the event having gone through a foot surgery in February. However, the medics of the Aussie superstar are happy from his quick recovery and gave him the
green signal to battle on the red clay courts of France.
Hewitt hasn’t played a lot professional tennis this year; just nine matches in total, with a 5-4 winning ratio. He started the new season at Perth during the Hopman Cup and lost the first two rubbers matches before defeating the
Chinese underdog, Di Wu, in his final battle. Serbian tennis ace, Viktor Troicki, ended his Apia Sydney International campaign in the opening round.
He started the Australian Open Grand Slam tournament with a win over the German professional Cedrik-Marcel Stebe and stunned everyone by defeating the then-15th seed American, Andy Roddick, and Canadian number one, Milos
Raonic, in the following two rounds. He booked a date with the number one player in the world, Novak Djokovic, in the fourth round and won a set before bowing down to him. It was a good tournament for the 31-year-old who is now ranked 178 in the world.
However, his glory days were short lived as he only played just one match after that in the Davis Cup tie and didn’t return to the tennis circuit due to the chronic foot injury. He hasn’t participated in any Masters tournament
this year; will make his clay court season debut in the French Open after grabbing a wildcard in the announcement made on Tuesday.
Australian tennis icon was ecstatic to have recovered earlier than schedule and eager to make his comeback. In an interview that took place after the wildcard announcement, Hewitt stated, “I'm looking forward to playing the French
Open especially after missing it last year due to injury." Tennis Australia Chief, Craig Tiley, also commented on the pleasant wildcard announcement. He stated, “It's great to see Lleyton back from injury and we are very pleased to be able to reward his efforts
with this wildcard.”
He is an excellent player if he gets going but the only problem with him is that his stamina has shrunk massively that will not allow him to play lengthy encounters especially the Grand Slam matches that require you to win at least
three sets to move ahead. He was impressive in the Australian Open but factors like local support and home soil; he won’t enjoy that in France and that will bring a huge difference in his game. However, it will be exciting to witness those powerful serves
that Hewitt is famous for. I wish him all the best for the Roland Garros French Open campaign.
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are the writer's own and in no way represent Bettor.com's official editorial policy.
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