Darren Cahill and Lleyton Hewitt will be reunited professionally when Cahill makes his debut as Davis Cup coach in the tie against Belgium in Liege on Feb 9-11. Having coached Hewitt to the world no.1 ranking in 2001, Cahill says he thinks a top five position is possible again. But Hewett will need to regain that sort of form sooner rather than later. With Wayne Arthurs out injured, the Australian team lacks depth and experience compared to the Belgians, who will be at home on their favoured clay surface. Given Hewett’s recent lack of match practice, can Cahill and captain John Fitzgerald inspire the world no. 18 to produce one of his legendary performances this weekend?
The task is a daunting one, although helped by the fact that Belgium’s top player Xavier Malisse has fallen out with the team and won’t be playing. He is instead in the US where this week he won his second ATP title this year beating James Blake in the final. The likely Belgian singles players will be Olivier Rochus, who beat Australia’s no. 2 singles player Chris Guccione in five sets in the first round of the Australian Open, and Kristof Vliegen, world no’s 31 and 41 respectively.
Hewett is quite capable of dealing with these two players. His four set loss to Fernando Gonzalez in the Open proved to be a reasonable performance in hindsight, and he’ll be better for the run. The clay will not help Guccione, whose game is based around his big serve and is better suited to faster surfaces. So, realistically, we are looking at Hewett needing to win both singles.
The doubles rubber looks like the decider, and it promises to be tight. Hewett will team up with doubles specialist Paul Hanley. Although their experience as a team amounts to one loss in Adelaide this year, they will be working hard over this week to form a combination. They will need to work quickly, though. The Belgians have doubles strength, with both Rochus and Vliegen sitting in the 50’s in doubles world rankings should they chose to use them as a pair.
Hewett has built a large part of his reputation through Davis Cup heroics, and if he can carry Australia through this tie it could stand with his better performances. At the very least we will get an idea of whether he is capable of regaining his place among the games elite, and an indicator of whether he will be a contender on the clay at Roland Garros in June. A huge challenge awaits – would you back against him?
What’s your best bet? For great odds on all your favourite sports check out PlayUp. Chances are you’re about to lose. Set a deposit limit.
It’s a pretty good time to be a Tasmanian sports fan right now. After years in the sporting wilderness with not much to celebrate,…
Olympic swimming legend and Australian Sports Commission boss Kieren Perkins has warned that "someone will die" if a multi-sport event that allows athletes to…
In 2015 when heavyweight boxer Tyson Fury beat Wladimir Klitschko, the fighter regarded by many as the ‘Greatest of all time’ in the sport,…
Join Australia's most vibrant online sports community and you have the chance to win $1000. The Roar is the perfect blend of sports reporting,…
Here is a review of our boxers who made a splash in the world rankings over the past year.
After intense debate at Roar HQ, we’ve selected the 23 most controversial moments for 2023.
