Lleyton Hewitt Has New Confidence

Written by: Staff on 17th July 2012

Lleyton Hewitt Has New Confidence

epa03282265 Lleyton Hewitt of Australia returns to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France during their first round match for the Wimbledon Championships at the All England Lawn Tennis Club, in London, Britain, 26 June 2012. EPA/GERRY PENNY |

Lleyton Hewitt is basking in a fresh air of confidence after the veteran former No. 1 jumped 83 spots in the rankings following his Newport final on grass against John Isner. The American seed earned a 7-6 (7-1) 6-4 title win, but the level of his own performance has heartened the 31-year-old Hewitt.

The two-time Grand Slam champion now stands 150th in the world and is taking aim at the London Olympics which start in less than a fortnight. “It’s done a lot of good for my confidence,” the Aussie icon who under went foot surgery earlier in the year told local media. “”A lot of positives have come out of this week.”

The finals showing came after Hewitt lost a pair of grass matches last month including a first-round exit at Wimbledon. The veteran called grass “a tough surface to come back on after any kind of surgery, and especially foot surgery, where my movement is such a big thing, because on grass you’re in the wrong positions a lot of the time. You’ve got to have that confidence in your footwork.

Hewitt confessed that he was still not at his best at Wimbledon despite productive rehab work in the proceeding months. “I didn’t feel totally comfortable with my footwork. It’s taken matches and practice and a lot of time over the last week-and-a-half.

“I feel like it’s starting to come, which is a good thing, not only for the Olympics in a couple weeks time, but obviously looking forward to the US Open and the rest of the year.”

©Daily Tennis News Wire

Topics: 10sballs.com, John Isner, Lleyton Hewitt, London Olympics, Sports, Tennis News, US Open 2012