HE COMES FROM A LAND DOWN UNDER

Nyree Epplett

Saturday, June 3, 2000

"I'm not afraid at all, of anything," boasts the brash 19-year-old with the pigtail and the back-to-front cap to the wad of awaiting media. "I enjoy being out there, being the center of attention," he says, matter-of-factly. No doubt about it, the very-confident Lleyton Hewitt can certainly 'talk the talk'. "I'm looking at,.. in two or three or four years down the track,..holding the trophy up at this tournament," continues the Aussie after his easy third round victory over Hungarian qualifier Attila Savolt 6-1 6-4 6-0 on Court One on Saturday. "Before today, I didn't even know what he (Savolt) looked like. I'd seen the name around the Challengers, but that's about it." The effortless victory, coming in one hour, 37 minutes, was the simplest so far at Roland Garros for the boy from Adelaide, South Australia, competing in only his second French Open. His second round win over the 60-ranked German Markus Hantschk came in a gruelling five sets, and American Jeff Tarango had extended the youngster to two tiebreaks in their first round encounter. Saturday's win propelled Hewitt, the ninth seed here, into his second Grand Slam fourth round for the year, the farthest he has ever progressed in just two full years of Grand Slam competition. Which begs the question from Australian tennis fans: "Can Lleyton Hewitt 'walk the walk'?" Can the gritty teenager with the colossal baseline game and the renowned penchant for fist-pumping his way through all of his matches, take the next vital steps into the upper echelons of Grand Slam glory? Touted as the next big thing in Aussie tennis since Philippoussis and Rafter hit the courts, Hewitt first came to prominence in 1998, when, as a cocky 16-year-old ranked 550 in the world, he captured his hometown title, becoming the youngest Tour winner since Michael Chang in 1988 and the lowest ranked winner in Tour history. Hewitt's Grand Slam tournament results have improved steadily ever since. He reached the third round at 1999 Wimbledon and US Open and rode the wave of a 13-match winning streak into the 2000 Australian Open, where he gracefully bowed out in the round of 16 to current No1 Magnus Norman. This year Hewitt answered the critics (including the Australian public) who had labelled him 'too cocky for his own good' following a couple of temperamental outbursts in Adelaide. The sometimes hot-headed Hewitt, had retorted by calling 'Australian fans stupid', but has since gone on to prove himself by winning a tour-best three singles titles (Adelaide, Sydney and Scottsdale) in 2000. He entered Roland Garros with a win-loss record of 33-7. Hewitt refuses to apologize for his on-court antics: "That's in me, and that is the reason why I play my best tennis." On clay, he's posted wins over Thomas Enqvist and Mark Philippoussis and reached the semi finals in Rome a few weeks ago - results that still continue astound the ninth seed. "I am pinching myself a little bit. A few people expect you to get through because you're a seed, but deep down....This is an unbelievable feeling. It's more special than the Australian (Open). "It was only three or four years ago that I was sitting up late at night watching these guys compete here and wishing I could be there. I have memories of Courier, Bruguera, very vague memories. And I watched tapes of Edberg and Chang and the Chang-Lendl match, when Chang was only seventeen." "Anything that comes from here on in is a bonus. I've still got a lot of learning to do on clay, but I've gained so much experience these past four weeks," said Hewitt, who joins compatriot Mark Philippoussis in the fourth round. And as much as he would probably like to, Hewitt can ill afford to look too far ahead in his half of the men's singles draw. The early exit of defending champion Andre Agassi now presents the Aussie with a wonderful opportunity to progress to the semi final. For the moment he will concentrate his efforts on his next opponent, the seasoned claycourter Albert Costa, who the youngster last encountered two weeks ago in the World Team Cup (Costa retired injured while trailing 1-4 in the first set). Costa upset seventh seed Thomas Enqvist late Saturday 5-7 7-6 6-1 3-6 6-4.