RISE OF A GIANT KILLER

Teenage tennis star Lleyton Hewitt has transformed from promising youngster to national hero in just two years, writes Leo Schlink.

Lleyton Hewitt has three passions in life: the Adelaide Crows, golf and winning, though not necessarily in that order.

Adelaide-based Hewitt is hardly unique in the Festival State for his devotion to the Crows. And his penchant for claming side bets against his father, Glynn, on the golf course is rarely a source of fame either

But Hewitt's insistence on over-achievement on the international tennis circuit already has become the source of sporting lore.

At 18 he has taken an express route to the upper echelons of the sport, where fortunes and profile are both hard won and easily lost.

Hewitt, who is ranked 31st in the world, has not only already won two tournaments, but has become the Australian Davis Cup spearhead in the absence of Pat Rafter and Mark Philipoussis.

He has also posted victories over world No. 2 Yevgeny Kafelnikov, No. 1 Andre Agassi (though No. 142 at the time), Rafter, Philipoussis, Todd Martin and Cedric Pioline - all bona fide members of the tennis elite - to scuttle emphatically fears he might be a flash in the pan.

In January, Hewitt sentenced Pat Rafter to five days of soul-searching after springing a mammoth first-round upset in the Sydney International at White City. Hewitt brought the two-time US Open champion to his knees when he carved out a comprehensive victory, startling Rafter, who predicts a glowing future for the 18-year-old.

"He played very well and used the conditions perfectly," Rafter said at the time. "I'm not dirty at losing, but deep down I feel I should be out there winning these matches."

John McEnroe, the sport's defining enfant terrible, knows his cattle.

"If Lleyton Hewitt is not in the top 10 by the end of next year I'll be very surprised," the former world No. 1 said at the US Open.

"He reminds me a bit of myself and he's got the game to back it up."

The provocative Russian Kafelnikov, who vowed to give Hewitt a tennis lesson during the Davis Cup semi-final against Australia at Brisbane's ANZ Stadium, learned that to niggle Hewitt was to buy into an argument that he could not win.

Hewitt duly belted the Australian Open champion in straight sets last Sunday to fire Australia into the December 3-5 final against France in Paris, where Hewitt doubtlessly will be summoned to perform more miracles.

Australian Captain John Newcombe has spent enough time with Hewitt to understand the reed-thin South Australian possesses all the qualities of a champion.

Time, Experience and maturity will enhance nature's generous package.

"He's just a fantastic competitor," Newcombe says

"He's been on Davis Cup teams since he was 15 watching guys like Pat Rafter and listening and observing,"

"He's taken it all in and he's using what he's learned out there on the court."

And it is out on the court that Hewitt had rapidly become the master of his own domain - and master, too, of anybody who should dare to cross his path. Hewitt has always been a combative soul.

As a junior he was renowned - and rebuked - for his feisty personality.

Nothing has changed, not even in the cut-throat world of professional tennis, where the meek and mild are quickly exposed and dispatched.

For Hewitt, life on the professional tour is the opportunity to live out a fantasy.

"I look at my mates going to school and uni and I'm sitting down next to Pat Rafter and watching him get ready to go out and play a big match," Hewitt says.

"When I first went on the tour, I wasn't sure what to expect or how I would go.

"Now I feel really comfortable, travelling with 'Killer' (his coach, Darren Cahill) and seeing all the boys.

"Having the chance to play guys like Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi is something that not a lot of people get to do. To be out there and doing that is amazing

"I'm used to it now, but it's kind of funny thinking back to the start of 1998 when I was ranked 700 in the world and got into the Adelaide tournament, beat Agassi, then won the tournament

"The whole of last year and this year until I hurt myself (a severely sprained ankle) has been great. I couldn't ask for anything more."

Hewitt, who is dedicated to the business of fulfilling a childhood dream of reaching the world's top 10 and winning Grand Slam titles, can be found occupying the few spare hours he has on Adelaide's finest sandbelt golf courses.

He drives a snazzy BMW and lives at his parents' West Lakes home with his 16-year-old sister, Jaslyn, who has emerged from her brother's shadow as a leading tennis junior.

Hewitt has neither the time nor the opportunity to accommodate a girlfriend - yet - but his popularity continues to soar.

His presence at a post-match party following the Davis Cup semi-final in Brisbane last weekend was evidence of the following he has quickly built. Hewitt's entry into a sports bar-nightclub was marked with a deafening roar and he soon found himself hoisted high above a heaving throng of revelers, who bounced the jockey- sized teenager on their hands in Davis Cup's equivalent of the mosh pit. Hewitt loved it.

"We're going to bring back the Cup this year," he yelled, continuously pumping an upright finger towards the ceiling. "This is the best day of my life."

There is no doubt the ponytailed blond is a favourite with scores of females - young and old.

But from Hewitt's point of view, tennis is his obsession. While he enjoys golf, football, family and movies, the fanatically organized Hewitt has not found time for the pursuits of a romantic man.

Asked at Wimbledon in July how he felt about being the newest tennis sex symbol - by no higher authority than the august broadsheet, The Times - Hewitt merely laughed off the tag.

"Yeah, that's great, but I haven't got time at the moment and I haven't thought about it too much, to be honest," he says.

"If other people want to think that, then that's fine."

Hewitt idolizes mercurial Adelaide Crows forward Darren Jarman and can often be found at Davis Cup practice kicking with Jarman-like accuracy.

If not for tennis, he almost certainly would have continued the family's relationship with football.

Glynn, a former Richmond footballer, and his mother, Sherilyn, a state netballer, now travel with their children to tournaments all over the world.

In many ways the Hewitt's are the model tennis family.

And should Lleyton, pugnacious and proud, bear the predictions of the sport's wise men, expect Tennis Australia to use him as the marketing successor to Rafter in the hope of producing the next Australian Champion