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Tennis
All Australian eyes glued on Hewitt
By Nirmal Shekar
MELBOURNE, JAN.13 They call him The Outsider these days. They call the most successful big stage performer in the history of tennis, The Outsider.
In a tram running from St. Kilda Beach to downtown Melbourne on Sunday morning - one that was filled with chirpy Japanese tourists - a rangy Australian with a Merv Hughes moustache drew his friend's attention to a small item in the sports section of a local newspaper.
``Saw this? Sampras is 17-1 at the Open. Do you believe it? May be I should put a tenner on him,'' he said. ``The paper says he is a very good outsider.''
In over a dozen years, if Pete Sampras has never been available at such lucrative odds at a Grand Slam tennis championship as he was here yesterday, then on the eve of the 2002 Australian Open, which begins on Monday, the fact that the winner of a record 13 Grand Slam titles carries the tag of an outsider or a long-shot clearly underlines the transformation that is taking place in the men's game.
Even as the final of the Commonwealth Bank International at Kooyong here on Saturday showcased one of the game's greatest rivalries - Sampras beating archrival Andre Agassi in three sets - with the great man rounding off a perfect preparation for the year's first Grand Slam, all the attention here is on a man who may not be quite as well prepared for the biggest occasion of his life as he might have hoped to be.
Inside every other sporting dream, there lurks a nightmare waiting to explode. And, for Lleyton Hewitt, who finished 2001 as men's tennis' youngest year-end No.1, the chicken pox infection may not have happened at a worse time.
With the eyes of an entire nation upon him - Hewitt is the first Australian top seed here since Ken Rosewall in 1976 - the brash young man with fire in his heart may yet manage to beat seven opponents during the fortnight to live up to his billing, after having beaten chicken pox itself in the nick of time. But it is not going to be easy.
The difference between last year's U.S.Open - which Hewitt won in style, beating a jaded Sampras in a lopsided final - and this season's first Grand Slam event could not have been greater. In New York, Hewitt had nothing to lose; out here, he has everything to lose.
For the first time in his career - which has come along like events in a kid's dream - the role model of the I-Me generation, a player whose personality offers such a contrast to the Aussies of the golden age, men such as Rosewall, Rod Laver, Roy Emerson and Tony Roche, will realise what pressure is all about.
How well the young Aussie handles this kind of pressure will ultimately determine his place among the game's great champions but in this tournament itself it would be just as interesting to see how Hewitt deals with the after-effects of his recent illness.
Agassi loves this tournament - three of his seven Grand Slam titles have been won here - and it is not going to make a huge difference to the 31-year old that this would be his first Grand Slam event as a father.
Tough draw for Agassi
The champion finds himself in the toughest quarter of the draw, one that features Sampras, Marat Safin, Andy Roddick and Jan-Michael Gambill.
Then again, even if the versatile champion does find his best game to win four rounds, the identity of his quarterfinal opponent would certainly matter to him, if it happens to be Pete Sampras.
The last time the two men played in a Grand Slam, at the U.S.Open, it turned out to be a true classic spread over four tie-break sets. And, should seedings hold, their quarterfinal clash here may well turn out to be the match of the tournament.
But men such as Safin and Roddick might have a say in whether or not this clash of titans takes place at the appointed hour. And both these young men are among a bunch of players who are serious contenders for the title.
Little went right towards the end of the year for Gustavo Kuerten in 2001 but the Brazilian, seeded two here, would love to give himself a great start to the year here although, on form, someone like Britain's Tim Henman or Germany's Tommy Haas may be expected to do better than the Brazilian. But do watch out for Roger Federer, Yevgeny Kafelnikov, Goran Ivanisevic - shoulder permitting - and a resurgent Mark Philippoussis.
The women's championship may not have quite as many dark horses as does the men's event. The most riveting story of the year began here last year when Jennifer Capriati beat Martina Hingis to win her first Grand Slam title.
While Capriati, the top seed, would very much like to author a sequel to the Cindarella story, the player to beat may very well be Venus Williams, who won both Wimbledon and the U.S.Open last year. When she is playing her best tennis, Venus is, without a doubt, in a class of her own, virtually unbeatable, although she has never gone past the semifinals here.
Venus, seeded two, is in the tougher half of the draw, one that features Monica Seles, Martina Hingis - who would love to end her three-year Grand Slam drought here - and her own sister Serena. No matter this, given the fact that she has had her best ever preparation leading up to this tournament, Venus should clearly be the favourite.
For India, the focus will be on Mahesh Bhupathi and Leander Paes, who made their first ever Grand Slam final here in 1999 and have given themselves a good start to 2002 by winning the Tata Open in Chennai.
The latest odds: Men: Agassi 5-1; Hewitt 11-2; Sampras 9-1; Kafelnikov 10-1; Roddick 12-1; Philippoussis 13-1; Federer 15-1; Safin 17-1; Henman 18-1.
Women: Venus Williams 18-10; Capriati 5- 1; Serena Williams 6-1; Martina Hingis 13.
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