The man who has carried Australian tennis through the first decade of the 21st century was last week handed a wildcard for the French Open.
Tennis Australia, thanks to an agreement with the French Tennis Federation on reciprocal wildcards between the two majors, decreed Lleyton Hewitt the man most worthy of the wildcard.
Hewitt has been the shining light in Australian men’s tennis for over a decade and on achievements is certainly the most worth now but it is time for Tennis Australia to promote its new brigade.
Hewitt’s performance at this year’s Australian Open enhanced his reputation further and even turned old detractors to supporters over a battling and at times brilliant performance under duress of persistent injury.
The suffering in his weary body has been well documented, as has his desire to play for Australia at the Olympics this year.
The problem Hewitt faces is his ranking has faded to beyond direct entry to major tournaments – wild card entries are the only way now. A problem for Australian tennis is that by giving Hewitt a wildcard, it denies an opportunity for a youngster to come through and play in a bigger tournament.
There are arguments that if the younger guys are good enough then they should be able to qualify and get into the main draw. The problem with this is that three tough matches means that even if they do qualify, players are often are spent coming into round one.
Of the four men and three women in French Open qualifiers for the French Open this week not one made it through their three matches into the main draw.
What also needs to be highlighted here is that tennis and particularly on the men’s side is changing. For most of last season Bernard Tomic was the only teenager in the top 100 men in the world. Players are developing later, often not until their mid to late twenties.
David Ferrer has been a top 10 player for the past four years and is currently 30 years old. Not until he was 26 did he start to regularly make it to the pointy end of the bigger tournaments.
For Australia we have three men in the top 100 for the first time in over four years and unfortunately for Marinko Matosovic his ranking didn’t get into the top 100 in time for the direct entry cut off to Paris. At 26, he has a career high ranking of 89 and he will make the main draw at Wimbledon for the first time.
This year Olivia Rogowska won her first match in the Australian Open main draw after three years of wildcard entries allowed her to experience the main draw and get rewards for her efforts. Tennis Australia would have been happy with that.
The problem is that whilst men are maturing later it also means that they only have a limited window of their bodies and game being in top shape. Whilst the current generation except for Tomic might not be top 10 players or future Grand Slam winners, surely its better for Australian tennis to have more numbers in the top 100 than less.
The options for Australian wild card entries are not a chance to win the French Open – this year at least – but they are a chance to kick start their careers and who knows where they will end up.
Hewitt on the other hand is near the end and of the back of only 10 days practice is not likely to progress very far at Rolland Garros either. He has been a monumental servant of Tennis in Australia and is rightly feted for his perseverance and performances over the years, but it would have been magnanimous if he afforded the opportunity to another player.
Matt
Guest
Johnno, There is Tomic, Matt Ebden and Marinko Matosevic in the top 100 as well as up and coming junior Ben Duckworth, Ben Mitchell, Greg Jones, John Patrick SMith, Jason Kubler and Luke Saville so there is hope for Australian tennis. Tennis from what I hear is becoming more popular with its hot shots program getting youngsters playing the sport and marketing has improved significantly. As they say the more you have playing the better chance you have of becoming strong in a sport. Let us face it at the moment there is Hewitt who is getting phased out, while Tomic is capable of doing some good things as he has done so for 1 year now while Ebden possibly is a glimmer of hope along with Matosevic. Duckworth showed his potential at the Australian Open pushing Janko Tipsarevic (10th in the world) to 4 sets in the second round after winning the 1st round in straight sets. Mitchell did well anc competed against John Isner in a tight match at the Australian Open while Greg Jones blew a 2 sets to love lead to the Dog (Alexander Dolgopoplov (15th in the world). So we have three players here who has potential but needs to make the transition in the rankings otherwise playing against these players will be a rare occasion.
Matt
Guest
I guess on his past greatness Hewitt deserves a wildcard but he will be next to useless at Wimbledon if he doesn't discover this year's Australian Open form where he reached the 4th round. Australian tennis needs to start helping out the young players to improve its tennis stocks. James Duckworth would be a great choice for a wildcard as Hewiit is not really the future for Australian tennis now as he is 31 years old. Guys like Duckworth, Ben Mitchell, Greg Jones, Luke Saville, John Patrick SMith and Jason Kubler are our future and needs to start making that trasition if Australian tennis is to start becoming strong agin. Yes Australian tennis is not exactly in dire straits as we have three players in the top 100- Tomic at 27th, Ebden at 74th and Matosevic at 82nd but surely witha tennis history like Australia you would be hoping to have at least 6 players in the top 100. This is when we can become a world power once again. There is no doubt that our players need to harden up and fight for everything like the Europeans that gives them the edge.Bernard Tomic seems to be the only player who can do some really good things. Matt Ebden is a question mark as he is not consistant enough and not playing enough tournaments. Look we still have some way to go but we are heading in the right direction. There is still not enough players that are outside the top 100 that are close to making the top 100. Duckworth the next closest is 180th while Hewiit is 203rd so.
Johnno
Guest
Andrew I have, i just have found the sport has been devalued on so many levels, like swimming and golf too. Tennis has got to into technology, in that with regards to racket power, and balls, and the tennis courts. Let's get serve and volley tennis back, and true clay court specialists, and true grass court specialists, and speed up rebound ace agin the court. I used to love it and played at a good level state level as under 18, and also all the characters of tennis have gone sanitised by risk of fines and sanctions and political correctness.
Andrew Leonard
Roar Pro
Fair comments from all - I did mention that Hewitt has been a giant of the game for Australia and was merely offering opinion that it is time to promote the players that have been battling and slowly making inroads on tour. I can't see the benefit of Hewitt playing round one and getting bundled out compared to the benefit of Duckworth, Mitchell, Jones or Matosevic playing round one and getting bundled out. The latter four have more scope to improve and a round one match offers more benefit to them than Hewitt. LK - was certainly aware of Ferrer being top 50 at 21. The point is though that the consistency and improvement came at 26. I would still rather have 3 26-30 year olds in the the top 100 than have only one teenage star to pin media hype and public hopes on. Johnno, if you played tennis at that level it is quite surprising that you have fallen out of love for the game so dramatically.
Johnno
Guest
GCS I live in sydney's eastern suburbs and it is $20 per hour now. And i am a big rugby fan i love the sport with a passion with every part of my body favourite thing in the world i am in heaven, as they say rugby is the game they play in heaven. Local memberships at tennis clubs are down, right across the board, junior numbers are down too. i used to play state junior tennis up until under 18 at high school. But i can tell you since the end of the 90's, tennis has been on a downward spiral in Australia. just look at the sad sate of mens tennis. Only tomic, and a fading 31 yr old Hewitt left.
GCS
Guest
Johnno, it cost $8 an hour to hire the courts at my tennis club and $12 at night time. Not too expensive. You hear people outside the game say that no one cares about it anymore, but when you are inside the game, the perception is that it is more popular than ever. I take it that you are a big rugby fan. To a lot of Australia, you probably could have said "at least we have lacrosse to keep Australia all excited" and it probably would have been just as relevant.
Johnno
Guest
I think Hewitt deserves the wild card, bozo at least he will bring in tv ratings, and that will get people interested in tennis in Australia. Tennis is a fading sport in OZ all but 2 weeks of the year. No one plays tennis any more or even likes the sport, coz we have no stars. And local tennis courts are so expensive , there was a greata article on the roar a while back about tennis being expensive. Most people would much prefer to watch one of the football codes for example rugby union than tennis now if tv ratings are an example of this. So hewitt at least brings in some interest to a rapidly fading non existent sport in Australia. I used to play tennis at a good level growing up , i played in state titles in the 90's it was huge. And i have lost interest all but 2 weeks a year and the wimbledon and grand slam finals. SO Hewitt will bring in interest, i remember when tennis was huge in the days of pat cash, and davis cup, and the 90's of scud, pat rafter , and lleyton hewitt. Who can forget Hewitt's win as a 16 yr old over andre agassi at adeliaide, classic australian sport at it's best. But now other than 2 weeks a year tennis is just non existent in OZ. Juniors are down, social comp numbers are down, davis cup has lot interest. So Hewitt may at least provide some cheap tv ratings for a fading sport that was once part of the Australian way of life like sliced bread, and , and meat pies , and holden cars. Not anymore. Oh well at least we have rugby union to keep Australia all excited of course. 7evens olympics, rugby world cups, super 15, the rugby championship, hong kong sevens, rugby just keeps going up and up in Australia's hearts while tennis is fading rapidly outside of the 2 weeks a year for the OZ open.
zacbrygel
Roar Guru
I'm sorry Andrew but I have to disagree with your views expressed in this article. Lleyton is a two time Grand Slam winner and has the best record of any player in Australian history at Davis Cup. When keeping that in mind, surely he deserves to be recognised and awarded for always putting his country first. Plus, I dont know of anyone that has done so much for Australian tennis and because of that he deserves wildcards till the day he retires.
Alan
Roar Guru
What about James Duckworth? He ran Tipsarevic close in the Australian Open this year. He should have been given the wild card.
LK
Guest
Andrew, I would agree with you if we actually had some young talent coming through the ranks. At 26 (27 in 3 months time) Matosovic certainly isn't the answer. He has earned his spot at Wimbledon but to opt for him over a guy who has 2 grand slams, 2 Davis Cup titles and over 70 weeks at number 1? Surely not. Also, Ferrer was Top 50 as a 21 year old.