THE tennisreporters.net NEWSLETTER: FRIDAY, JUNE 20, NO. 34

Wimbledon preview
Hewitt and Venus have a lot to prove

By Matthew Cronin
tennisreporters.net

Photo: Fred Mullane/Camerawork USA, Inc. Design: Ron Cioffi/tr.net

It's been some time since Lleyton Hewitt and Venus Williams have had to prove that they have a Grand Slam champion's mettle, but the now somewhat anxious Aussie and confused American will arrive at Wimbledon at major turning points in their careers.

THE MEN
Hewitt has taken three notable losses since winning the 2002 Wimbledon crown in dominating fashion: a teeth-gnashing defeat to now No. 1 Andre Agassi in the '02 US Open semis; a when-will-this-guy-stop-zoning-on-me loss to Younes El Aynaoui at the '03 Australian Open; and a desperate, curse-filled defeat to Spain's Tommy Robredo at Roland Garros.

Venus hasn't won a major since the '01 US Open. The elder Williams took four straight, psychologically devastating defeats to her little sister Serena and two weeks ago, was moved down by mean Russian teen Vera Zvonareva in Paris.

While Hewitt downplayed his loss to Robredo, the fallout from the defeat was more significant. He immediately parted ways with his coach, Jason Stoltenberg, after a fairly productive year and a half that saw him win Wimbledon, a handful of Masters Series titles and finish 2002 as No. 1. Both men say there's no bad blood between them, but it's pretty obvious that Stoltenberg no longer wanted to deal with daily high intensity of the Hewitt camp, where compromise is never on the agenda, battles with the ATP and the media are commonplace and losing matches that on paper you are supposed to win is completely unacceptable.

The pressure is on to defend
Hewitt has not elevated his assistant coach, Roger Rasheed, to head coach status, but who knows how long that will last. Last week, he failed to defend his Queens Club title, when he fell to Sebastian Grosjean. He hasn't won a title since stomping through Indian Wells in March and one member of his camp recently said that the pressure of defending his Wimbledon title will be enormous. But that doesn't mean that the snarling Aussie won't respond well.

Hewitt's speed, court sense and bullet return serve him well in London, but he'll have to raise his game to a much higher level than he's shown in the past three months. Should he do so, he'll be the first Aussie to go back-to-back here since John Newcombe in '70-'71.

But Hewitt's draw is very difficult. In the third round, he'll have to face one of quartet of tough foes: super servers – Taylor Dent, Ivan Ljubicic and Max Mirnyi – or 31st-seed Vince Spadea, always a gamer at the Slams.

But the match everyone is waiting for is Hewitt's potential clash with American Andy Roddick, who has now teamed up with master coach Brad Gilbert and last week, won Queens, with notable victories over Greg Rusedski, Dent, Agassi and Grosjean.

If either Hewitt or Roddick make it to the semis, the mentally unstable but physically capable Roger Federer could be waiting, or possibly '02 Aussie Open finalist Rainier Schuettler, Brazil's Gustavo Kuerten and '02 Wimbledon semifinalist Sjeng Schalken.

Second-seed Agassi is favored to come through the other side of the draw and what a better way to celebrate midsummer's grandest tournament than to have Hewitt and Agassi face off in the final? However, although Agassi been a lock to reach the second week of the Slams for the past two years (save for his stunning loss to Paradorn Srichaphan here last year), there's no guarantee that he'll reach the final. El Aynaoui lurks in the third round, '02 semifinalist Xavier Malisse or Mark "The Scud" Philippoussis may be his fourth round opponent and look who could be waiting in the quarters and Argentine Guillermo Coria, who knocked him out of the French Open.

The semifinals could bring the likes of French Open champion Juan Carlos Ferrero, '02 finalist David Nalbandian, four-time semifinalist Tim Henman, Grosjean or James Blake.

One thing is for sure, both Agassi and Hewitt would love a chance to play for the top ranking on the final Sunday.

THE WOMEN

Fred Mullane/Camerawork USA, Inc.

Fourth-ranked Venus won't have that luxury, but if she arrives in London in full health (she was still contending with a stomach injury in Paris), she has a decent shot at her third Wimbledon crown. It's no longer a case of her simply waltzing to the semis, because there are a slew of young players who now believe they can take her down.

In the third round, she may have to face big-hitting Russian Nadia Petrova, who defeated Jennifer Capriati in Paris. Should she pound her way past Petrova, she'll likely have a chance to avenge her Roland Garros loss to Zvonareva – a match she's surely looking forward to.

Veteran and '99 champ Lindsay Davenport could be waiting in the quarters, and in the semis, she'll likely have to face off No. 2 and French finalist Kim Clijsters, possibly the tour's best athlete, but certainly not its most consistent player.

Even if Venus reaches the final, she may not have another shot at Serena, who has a dicey draw and will likely have to overcome the woman who helped bring her to tears in Paris, French champ Justine Henin-Hardenne. Neither Serena – who's a substantial favorite to win here – or '01 Wimbledon finalist Henin, fear Venus. In fact, few of the top player do this year; Venus has only bagged one title in '03.

What Hewitt and Venus both need to do is reestablish a fear factor from their opponents and the only way they are going to do that is to dig up some turf and kick some butt at the All-England Club. Title-runs by would elevate both to superstar status again. Defeats will bring them further back to the pack.