Australian Players (Both Men and Women)

[Tish]

Score for week One

Kostya and Luda Modern Waltz 7 7 6 6 26

Alicia and John Paul Modern Waltz 7 5 5 6 23

So excited about Marat's first match but i did watch Dancing with the stars tonight but only saw Alicia and Kostya

Alicia made me laugh not as graceful as last week , and Kostya did very well...they even filmed him in Russia this week practicing his moves in the snow BRRRRRrrrrrrrrrrr

[Tish]

Lleyton won his first round match against Florian Mayer at the

LAS VEGAS OPEN 5/7 - 6/2 - 6/4

[Tish]

Have not posted in here for nearly a week and all I have to say can be seen in this picture that I found to describe how the Aussies are doing at the moment..Lleyton lost from what I have heard and it is a bit quiet at the moment.

[Annie]

yep, Lleyton had a three-set final against James Blake in Tennis Channel Open and lost 5:7, 6:2, 3:6

[Tish]

I saw only the last set on replay late last night and all I can say is that lleyton could have had some help to with Instant replay

[avalon]

pisces72rat said:

Have not posted in here for nearly a week and all I have to say can be seen in this picture that I found to describe how the Aussies are doing at the moment..Lleyton lost from what I have heard and it is a bit quiet at the moment.



don't know whether to or at your post

[Tish]

avalon said:

pisces72rat said:

Have not posted in here for nearly a week and all I have to say can be seen in this picture that I found to describe how the Aussies are doing at the moment..Lleyton lost from what I have heard and it is a bit quiet at the moment.



don't know whether to or at your post

Don't know that I would cry so we may as well laugh...

[avalon]

Sydney Morning Herald 31/03/2006

[sorry, I am kind of over Llewton at the moment, if I had a yawning smilie I would insert it here]

LLEYTON Hewitt yesterday walked into the weatherbeaten stadium that has witnessed so much of Australia's grand tennis history, returning to the Davis Cup squad to hit on Kooyong's famous centre court for the first time, talk up Australia's 2006 cup chances, and speak optimistically of recapturing his own glory days.

Hewitt left Miami last weekend after a second round Masters Series loss to Tim Henman, stopping over briefly at his Sydney home before reporting for Davis Cup practice ahead of next week's quarter-final against Belarus. A slightly later arrival would have been preferable, he admitted, but there is much adjusting and preparing to be done and the early exit from Key Biscayne may therefore have its benefits.

The former world No.1 has never played a match at Kooyong, which last hosted a tie - in its previous incarnation as a lawn tennis venue - in 1993. Nor has Hewitt represented his country since last year's quarter-final loss to Argentina in Sydney, having considered skipping the first round upset of Switzerland to protest against the speed of the Melbourne Park courts before an ankle injury sealed his fate.

It was just the second tie Hewitt had missed since making his debut in 1999, and he admitted the experience of watching from afar as Peter Luczak, Chris Guccione, Wayne Arthurs and Paul Hanley toppled the Swiss 3-2 was "a weird situation". But he was in regular phone and SMS contact and now he is back - and the quite extraordinary fact that Hewitt volunteered to speak to the media is an indication of his improved relations with Tennis Australia since Paul McNamee's departure.

When asked what he thought of McNamee's switch from the Australian Open tennis to golf, Hewitt quipped: "I don't know. Hope he can play, eh? Otherwise he'll be in the shit."

Yet that was the only hint of rancour, and the 25-year-old was in a co-operative, outwardly positive mood - especially for a player, now ranked 14th, who has not won a title in 14 months.

"I feel like I'm extremely close to playing some really good tennis," Hewitt said. "In practice I've been hitting the ball great; now I've just got to go out there and play on autopilot like you do when you're in the top two or three in the world.

"At the moment it feels like I've got to work it a little bit more and push through some of the tougher times, where when you're playing your best tennis like [Roger] Federer has the last couple of years, you go out there and it's a matter of you know what's going to happen on the big points and you expect to win those, and that's probably the biggest change."

Regardless, Australia welcomes back its most successful cup singles player, for its Davis Cup chances appeared doomed when Hewitt declared his unavailability against the Swiss. Still, less than two months later, the draw has opened nicely, with the possibility of a home semi-final against Croatia should the expected defeat of Belarus eventuate from Friday week. "Obviously the boys did what we all hoped and wanted them to do in the first round but I feel like we've got a good crack at it this year," Hewitt said.

Kooyong's Rebound Ace is already playing quicker than Melbourne Park's, which pleases Hewitt, but also - he acknowledges - suits Max Mirnyi and Vladimir Voltchkov, who will share singles and doubles duties for Belarus.

"It's a hell of an effort," Hewitt said. "That says a lot about where their passion lies and it's not going to be an easy tie at all."

[alsl]

[glow=red,2,300]Molik To Make Long-Awaited Return at Fed Cup[/glow] ;D
MELBOURNE, Australia - Five months after announcing an extended break from tennis to recover from ongoing struggles with illness, Australia's Alicia Molik will take the court again, albeit not on the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour just yet.

the rest can be read here:http://www.wtatour.com/newsroom/?ContentID=338

so glad she's coming back!!

[nicole1224]

that's definitely great how Molik is coming back!

[SAFINNO1]

Hewitt out of Monte Carlo

Australian Lleyton Hewitt has pulled out of next week's Monte Carlo Masters to stay fresh for next month's French Open. The former world number one, who led Australia into the Davis Cup semi-finals last weekend, has decided rest is more important than playing in another tournament.

"There's nothing sinister in it," his manager Rob Aivatoglou told Australian Associated Press.

"There are tournaments on every week, if he plays every one available he'd burn out. What he is trying to do is to give himself the best opportunity of peaking for the important events.

"There is the French Open coming up in May and Wimbledon in June and July and hopefully he will play his best tennis when he's at those events,".

[Tish]

I have been watching our TV Awards tonight sorry Marat, but who should appear to present the children's program award but the Aussie bad boy, who is also visibly missing from any tournaments at the moment....Lleyton presented the award with Bec and little Mia....Both were a bit nervous but did an alright job....I will post a photo if I can find one ....Ooooh my search has come up with something...

tvweek.ninemsn.com.au/img/logies/slideshows/2006logies/hotcouples/bec_lleyton_hewitt_gettyimages.jpg

[SAFINNO1]

Hewitt pulls out of Hamburg event

Hewitt is aiming to be in peak fitness and form at Wimbledon
Lleyton Hewitt has withdraw from next week's Hamburg Masters after damaging his calf muscle in training.
"With two Grand Slams coming up, we're not in a position to take any risks and have adopted a cautious approach," said Hewitt's coach Roger Rasheed.

Hewitt is set to return to action at Portschach the following week, and is also likely to make a rare appearance in the doubles at the French Open.

The 25-year-old will team up with Wayne Arthurs to help prepare for Wimbledon.

Hewitt has usually preferred to stick to the singles at Grand Slam events, although he does play doubles in the Davis Cup for Australia.

The last time Hewitt played in the doubles at a Grand Slam saw him win the US Open title alongside Max Mirnyi back in 2000.

"After his Davis Cup commitments, Lleyton has worked extremely hard to prepare for Hamburg, the French Open and, ultimately, Wimbledon," added Rasheed.

"He's done all the work required for the eight weeks ahead of him with a view to peaking at Wimbledon."

Hewitt won the US Open in 2001 and Wimbledon in 2002.

[avalon]

WHAT does Australian tennis have in common with Finland, Cyprus, Luxembourg, Peru and Chinese Taipei? If Lleyton Hewitt does not recover from an ankle injury in time to play at the French Open starting on Sunday, Australia could have, like those tennis minnows, just one representative in the men's draw.

Hewitt sprained his right ankle during an upset first-round defeat by Marcos Daniel of Brazil at the Poertschach International in Austria on Monday.

Trailing 3-4 in the third-set tie-breaker, Hewitt went to ground behind the baseline after stumbling on the clay. While he continued the match after treatment from a trainer, Hewitt seemed to be in considerable pain and did not win another point, going down 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7-3) to world No.89 Daniel. That ended a disappointing return to the circuit for the Australian, who had missed two tournaments because of a calf injury.

Hewitt suffered a similar injury to the same ankle at the Australian Open and did not play in the first-round Davis Cup tie against Switzerland in February.

While the full extent of Hewitt's injury is not known, he is in danger of missing a second successive French Open after falling down stairs at his house last year and hurting his ribs.

Hewitt's manager, Rob Aivatoglou, said in a statement yesterday Hewitt was still confident of playing. "Lleyton will be having an MRI scan later today as a precautionary measure but the initial doctor's examinations suggest there is no ligament damage," he said. "We're optimistic that he will be fit for the French Open but will know more once we get the results of the scan."

If Hewitt does not play at Roland Garros, Australia's only guaranteed starter in the men's draw would be the 26-year-old erstwhile doubles specialist Nathan Healey, who won a round-robin challenge last week for a wildcard. Healey got that spot ahead of Wayne Arthurs, Chris Guccione and Peter Luczak who, with Alun Jones, will try their luck in the qualifying tournament.

Australia has just two women in the main draw, the in-form Samantha Stosur and another wildcard recipient, Alicia Molik, who won the wildcard in a battle with Nicole Pratt, Casey Dellacqua and Sophie Ferguson, who will also attempt to qualify.

However, as it stands, with just four entrants Australia could have what is believed to be its smallest contingent at a grand slam tournament in the open era (post-1968). Last year just seven Australians made it into the main draw at the French Open, Wimbledon and US Open. Things are unlikely to get better in this year's other grand slams. Without the reciprocal wildcard arrangement between Tennis Australia and the French Tennis Federation that gave Healey and Molik a start at Roland Garros, Hewitt and Stosur are the only two certain starters at Wimbledon, with former finalist Mark Philippoussis some chance of receiving a wildcard.

There were 22 Australian men in the main draw at Wimbledon in 1968, 26 in 1978, 11 in 1987 and 12 in 1997. But while it might seem from those statistics Australian tennis has reached a crisis point, the poor representation on the game's biggest stages hardly comes as a surprise.

Ranks have been thinned by the retirement - or near retirement - and injury of stalwarts such as Pat Rafter, Todd Woodbridge, Scott Draper, Philippoussis, Arthurs and Pratt, and the so-called "missing generation" that has followed.

Tennis Australia chief executive Steve Wood acknowledges the sport is "in a transition phase". Having revamped participation and player development programs in the past year, he said it would take some time for the playing stocks to be replenished.

"We are looking at a three- to five-year program at a minimum," he said. "We have changed 101 years of history in the way we have gone about things in nine months."

Woods said there was plenty to work with. "We think there is the talent," he said. "What we are working to do is not just bring a couple of players through but bring a couple of dozen through."

THE TOP AUSTRALIANS

MEN'S RANKINGS

*14 Lleyton Hewitt

140 Peter Luczak

167 Mark Philippoussis

187 Chris Guccione

**195 Nathan Healey

203 Alun Jones

209 Wayne Arthurs

267 Luke Bourgeois

286 Robert Smeets

364 Paul Baccanello

WOMEN'S RANKINGS

*43 Samantha Stosur

139 Nicole Pratt

186 Casey Dellacqua

216 Sophie Ferguson

269 Lauren Breadmore

295 Beti Sekulovski

302 Monique Adamczak

320 Christina Wheeler

332 Cindy Watson

395 Emily Hewson

( **489 Alicia Molik)

* Automatic entry

to French Open

** French Open wildcard

[Tish]

:-XPffffft

We may not be at the top in tennis but we did win a prelim match against Greece before the worldcup...very bloody good