Lleyton Hewitt Eyes Olympic Spot, After Davis Cup Win

Written by: Staff on 13th February 2012

Lleyton Hewitt Eyes Olympic Spot, After Davis Cup Win

Lleyton Hewitt of Australia in action during his men's singles third round match against Milos Raonic of Canada at the Australian Open Grand Slam tennis tournament in Melbourne, Australia, 21 January 2012. EPA/MAST IRHAM |

After wrapping up a 3-0 swamping of China for Australia in Davis Cup zonal play, Lleyton Hewitt is starting to eye a possible place in the London Olympic tournament this summer after the 30-year-old and Chris Guccione completed the victory in doubles.

Now the pair who impressed captain Patrick Rafter are dreaming of a wild card to the Games. “We’re not in the Olympics at the moment so it’s not my first priority,” said Hewitt, who also won his singles rubber to start the tie.

“It only comes around every four years and it’s probably the last time I’d play in an Olympics – if I had the opportunity, it would be great.”

Rafter says that Hewitt, still not completely free of his long-running toe injury, is playing some of his best recent tennis, confirmed by the No. 130 veteran’s Australian Open fourth-round showing where he lost to Novak Djokovic.

“But Lleyton is ready and his ranking is no reflection of how he’s hitting the ball,” said the skipper. “To me he is back in the top 20 in terms of how he is hitting the ball.”

Rafter added that a return to the Davis Cup World Group is the prime goal of his team this season. “We take this very seriously and this year is about trying to get back into the World Group (they’ve been out since 2007) and seeing how we go.”

Hewitt has set a record for Davis appearances for an Australian and is prepared to keep on going. “I love every time I put the gold jacket on and playing for my country whoever it’s against and my preparation is exactly the same,” said Hewitt.

“Obviously with the team we’ve got and getting a few home ties here and there I think we could do some damage in the World Group. We’ve just got to get back into it.”