Hewitt's Open Threatened By Ankle Injury

The Age

Wednesday May 24, 2006

LINDA PEARCE

ABBREVIATED by choice, then delayed a further week by a calf tear, Lleyton Hewitt's French Open preparation has been compromised again by an ankle injury received during yesterday's first-round loss to Marcos Daniel in Austria.

Hewitt laboured through the final three points of his untimely 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7-3) defeat in Poertschach - his only ATP Tour match since March 24 and his first on clay for almost two years - and then limped to the net to acknowledge the unheralded Brazilian, who is ranked 89th.

Trailing 3-4 in the third-set tie-breaker, the Australian twisted his right ankle during a baseline rally and fell to the clay clutching his foot. Hewitt was attended by a tournament trainer at courtside and finished the match, but failed to win another point as Daniel completed only his fifth victory at ATP Tour level.

"Lleyton will be having an MRI scan later today as a precautionary measure but the initial doctor's examinations suggest there is no ligament damage," Hewitt's manager, Rob Aivatoglou, said yesterday. "We're optimistic he will be fit for the French Open but will know more once we get the results of the scan."

Should Hewitt compete at Roland Garros when the French Open begins on Sunday, he will do so having played only one lead-up match on his least favourite surface. It was clear when Hewitt skipped Masters Series events in Monte Carlo and Rome that the claycourt season was not a priority, but not even the former No. 1 would have imagined it would be quite so brief.

"I'm taking this tournament very seriously and definitely want to triumph here," Hewitt had said in Austria before his first official outing since a Davis Cup rout of Vladimir Voltchkov at Kooyong seven weeks ago.

Having missed last year's French Open after cracking his ribs in a fall in his Sydney home, Hewitt's previous event on clay was the 2004 French Open, where he reached the quarter-finals for the second time. The dual major winner is now ranked 14th, and more than 16 months have passed since his 24th, and most recent, title.

Inevitably, questions are being asked about Hewitt's commitment to the sport he ruled during 2001-02. While injuries are occurring with increasing frequency, the father of six-month-old Mia continues to limit his number of tournament appearances by choice as well as necessity.

"At one time, he was able to be in every match, and ... he's struggled a little bit," Jimmy Connors, a similarly gritty former baseliner and No. 1, said recently. "Maybe that's due to some of the interests he's gone through off the court.

"But his attitude is one that when he's out on the court, that's his business and that's what he wants to do. And he's willing to put it all on the line. And day after day, that's a hard job."

Hewitt had been scheduled to team with his coach Roger Rasheed overnight (Melbourne time) in a first-round doubles match in Poertschach against Juan Ignacio Chela and Luis Horna. He also planned to partner Davis Cup teammate Wayne Arthurs at Roland Garros.

? Former French finalist Guillermo Coria has withdrawn from the French Open with an elbow injury. Coria, runner-up to fellow Argentinian Gaston Gaudio in 2004, has had a wretched run of late, losing his past five matches and sliding from ninth to 22nd since the start of the year. -- With AGENCIES

© 2006 The Age

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