Lleyton Hewitt surveyed the wreckage of his Wimbledon first-round exit yesterday, but still came out fighting with a tongue-lashing for Olympic Games chiefs and his favourite target, the English
Hewitt’s 10th anniversary party of his 2002 Wimbledon title was gatecrashed by French fifth seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga who cruised to a 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 win, handing the Australian his earliest exit at the All England Club since 2003. His loss also meant that there will be no Australian man in the second round at Wimbledon for the first time since 1938.
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Lleyton Hewitt
“Playing in the singles here at the Olympics is a great bonus,” said Hewitt.
“At least I get the chance to play here again. But I’m disappointed not to make the doubles. I guess playing as much Davis Cup doesn’t count for anything.”
Hewitt, whose career has gone into a tailspin and who underwent radical surgery to cut bone out of his big toe in February, refused to entertain any notion that the problems of Australian tennis mirrored a decline in the country’s sporting prowess in general.
“I reckon we’ll go alright at the Olympics,” he said, before dampening any ideas England’s cricketers might have of continuing their Ashes dominance next year or of even winning the one-day series which is about to start. “We’ve never been too afraid of the Poms,” smiled Hewitt.
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