 | Born: 24/2/81 Nationality: Australian Seeded: 12 World ranking: 12 French Open best:
Quarter-finals (2001) Recent record:
2003: 3rd round
2002: 4th round
2001: Quarter-final |
Hewitt is beginning to establish himself as a Grand Slam threat once more after a desperately disappointing 2003. He began last season as world number one but ended it outside the top 10 and reached only one Grand Slam quarter-final.
The nadir came at Wimbledon when, as defending champion, he was ousted in the first round by unheralded Croatian Ivo Karlovic.
However, Hewitt insisted his only goal for the year was to win the Davis Cup with Australia - and he was true to his word as the Aussies lifted the Cup in December.
Andy Roddick, Roger Federer and Juan Carlos Ferrero have dominated the tennis scene in the last 12 months - but Hewitt should not be discounted.
His fiercely competitive spirit has been sorely missed in the latter stages of Grand Slam tournaments, and despite a relatively quiet 2003 he nonetheless picked up two titles and has won two more already this season.
Hewitt is yet to get to grips with clay and his French Open best is a quarter-final appearance in 2001, but he gave himself a timely boost before travelling to Paris when he reached the Hamburg semis before falling to an in-form Roger Federer.
That Hamburg display also allowed him to reclaim the Australian number one spot from Mark Philippoussis.
MMIX
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