By Yeshayahu Ginsburg
I’m not going to lie, I have become a bit of a Lleyton Hewitt fan over the past few years. Few people in tennis fight as hard as he does every single point. He has talent, yes, but what gets him through matches on the tennis court is energy and momentum. He hasn’t had the ability to just beat other players on talent alone for a few years now. When he is playing uninspired, he can lose to just about anyone. But when he finds a reason to fight and grabs on to it, he can still play one of the highest levels of tennis on tour.
We watched Hewitt play Novak Djokovic on the biggest of stages twice last year. The first was in the fourth round of the Australian Open when Djokovic actually looked unbeatable. Hewitt was being dominated early but rode the crowd to actually take the third set. The second time was at the Olympics, where Hewitt actually won the first set but could never really pull ahead in the second set. Both of these times, Hewitt was playing tennis on a level equal to the best players in the world.
So why isn’t Hewitt still a top player? Why is his ranking just barely inside the top 100? In short, Hewitt is not so young anymore. His body can no longer keep up with what his mind and heart want him to do. Fatigue sets in much earlier in tournaments and matches. Once he’s tired, he can no longer get to the ball in time to hit his crisp, accurate shots. His form is a little forced and errors start flying everywhere. But before that point, his game is pretty much just as clean as it was 15 years ago.
Which brings me to the reason that the upcoming 4 weeks should be the most important of Hewitt’s year. The Indian Wells and Miami Masters tournaments offer Hewitt something that no other tournaments on tour offer. It’s a Grand Slam format—with a break in between each of the rounds, but it’s only best-of-three. It is the best of both worlds for Hewitt. It gives him the opportunity to take a day off between matches so that fatigue won’t kill him early in each match. And it’s only best-of-three sets, which means that he is not out there for at least two hours in each match.
Over the past few years, we have seen Hewitt play in tough matches. We have seen him push others to five sets. And we have seen him have to come back from tiring matches and attempt to do it again the next day. I have absolutely nothing against Hewitt when I say that his body just can’t do it anymore. He can’t play for 3 hours then come back two days later. He can’t play a tough three-setter then come back the next day. But what he can do, and what he should concentrate on doing, is playing at his absolute best in the two tournaments that don’t force him to do either of those things.
Some have begun referring to Indian Wells as the “fifth Slam”. It is certainly the tournament that has tried to hardest in recent years to put itself a step above the other Masters tournaments. But for Lleyton Hewitt in the next two weeks, it has to be the only Slam. It is his best opportunity to make a great run at a big tournament. He needs to take it because he’s not going to have so many more chances.
Informative article, exɑctly what I waѕ loօking for.
Feel free to visit mʏ web page :: Hotel Travel
whoah this weblog is wonderful i love reading your posts.
Keep up the great work! You recognize, a lot of individuals are hunting around for this info, you could aid them
greatly.
Thanks for one’s marvelous posting! I seriously enjoyed reading it, you may be a great author.
I will ensure that I bookmark your blog and will often come back in the future.
I want to encourage that you continue your great
job, have a nice evening!
I know this web site offers quality based posts and
additional stuff, is there any other web page which provides such things in quality?
Hi, constantly i used to check web site posts here in the early hours in the daylight, since i enjoy
to gain knowledge of more and more.
wonderful submit, very informative. I wonder why the opposite specialists of
this sector do not realize this. You should proceed your
writing. I’m confident, you have a great readers’ base
already!
This web site ϲertainly has all ߋf the info I neeԀеd cοncerning this subject аnd ɗidn’t
know wɦߋ tߋ ɑsk.
my weblog Nonton film Online gratis
Great weblog here! Additionally уour web site գuite a Ьit up fast!
ԜҺаt web host arе you using? Cаn І gеt your associate link on yoսr
host? I wiѕh my web site loaded սρ as fast as yourѕ lol
Mу blog post: dewa poker
Heya i’m for the first time here. I came across this board and I find It really useful & it helped
me out much. I hope to give something back and aid others like you
helped me.
Hi, i read your blog from time to time and i own a similar one and i was just curious if you
get a lot of spam remarks? If so how do you stop it, any plugin or anything you
can recommend? I get so much lately it’s driving me mad
so any help is very much appreciated.