Hewitt, is he for real?

[coach tom]

OK, here we are in the new boards, which look and work great!

Let's try this topic here.

Lleyton Hewitt, Aussie up and comer, has been blasting his way up the rankings this year. Everyone seems to agree that he could be the next superstar. My question is, is his one dimensional power and more power game enough to put him over the top? Or will he just become another top 10 player who lives and dies by whether his shots are going in or out that day.

[tennis4you]

He is one of the best scamblers I have seen in a long time. He has tremendous speed and great defense. I don't think that his power game is his strength. I do think that he will do well and make it far. :)

Scott Baker
http://www.tennis4you.com

[Marc]

Has he won any major tournaments? How old is he? (Excuse me, I'm just uninformed :)). The question is, is Safin or this guy the next top star?

[tennis4you]

I think Safin and Hewitt, or so I am hoping, will have some classic battles!!! Hewitt is only 19, and he has won some good tournaments, but no Majors. I think that they are both equipped to be top players in the coming years!!!

Hewitt has won no slams yet, but if he stays healthy he will!!!

Scott Baker
http://www.tennis4you.com

[coach tom]

An interesting thought Scott! The match-up is very similar to Agassi vs. Sampras. One is a baselining cannon, the other an artillery serving and volleying king. If either is ever to win another grand slam (Safin of course won at the US Open this year) it will most likely be the Australian and French for Hewitt and the US for Safin. Very much in line with Agassi and Sampras. I don't think Safin will ever rule on grass, as he and fellow smasher Marc Phillipousis do not have the return game of Sampras and are inconsistent when playing players of equal or higher caliber.

Patrick Rafter will probably rule Wimbledon after Sampras disappears. But take Rafter, Phillipousis and Hewitt together and you have the potential for another Davis Cup domination by Australia like legendary coach Harry Hopman's teams of the 1970's. (Laver, Rosewall, Newcombe, Roche, Emerson and Davidson.)

[tennis4you]

I am not so sure I would count out Safin at Wimbledon yet. Give him a few years to mature in his game and he may be very tough on grass. He does dominate from the baseline, so he would need a great return game, but the way he returned at the Open this year was fantastic. But to win from the baseline these days at Wimbledon you have to have the return game of Agassi.

I think Rafter still has a chance at a Wimbledon, but he has been in and out a lot this year due to injury. he is a great guy and a great sportsmanship, so I like to watch him play. I sure thought he had Wimbledon this year, I turned the tv off in the second set tie-breaker when I though Sampras was done. I couldn't watch it any longer.
In your comment about sevre and volley king vs. a baseliner, who are you saying is a serve and volley player? Aren't the both mainly baseline players at this point? (Safin and Hewitt)

Scott Baker
http://www.tennis4you.com

[Marc]

Exactly, Scott. Give Safin some time, he will get there.

And Patrick Rafter is a good player who has been plagued by inconsistency and injuries. He is sometimes playing deep into major tournaments and other times is struggling. He is a good that is valuable to tennis, but never going to be the top guy.

[tennis4you]

Rafter has been # 2 in the world before, either in 97 or 98, maybe 98. He had just won his second consecutive U.S. Open. So he has no tyet been the top guy, and I think his chances for that are slipping fast!

Scott Baker
http://www.tennis4you.com

[coach tom]

Well Scott, you might be right about Safin, but from the tournament matches I was able to catch during Safin's incredible summer run he was at the net a lot more than he was at the baseline. It may be the fact that he was playing on some extremely fast surfaces and that most of his opponents couldn't handle his serve. If you put Hewitt and Safin side by side, you would definitely make Hewitt more of the baseliner than Safin.

That, of course, is my opinion. Yes Marc, Rafter is on the downside of an otherwise great career, but just as Sampras shows Rafter will be a factor at one of the big four for quite some time. The grass is kinder to his body and his game is built for grass court tennis. Rafter will have to be lucky enough to not face Sampras again, but if he doesn't he could very well rule THE CHAMPIONSHIPS for the next three years. Only time and his body will tell.

Safin, in my opinion, may already have peaked or is beginning to peak. Safin has been relatively quiet this fall and it will be interesting to see how he does at the Masters Series Championships. My guess is that "GUGA" will win, as the Brazilian is due for a big one on the hard indoor courts and he has been the only one with consistency versus big time players this year. If they use the big ball, which I heard they might, it definitely puts the powerful baseliners in better positions.

I like Safin, don't get me wrong, but he reminds me of a ton of great young players who came up prior to the Bolletieri wave only to be very short time heroes. Brian Gottfried, Raul Ramirez, Pat Cash, Dick Stockton all had great moments (although only one had a slam win) only to fade quickly from the highest levels of tennis.

My two cents, for what it's worth....

[tennis4you]

True, Safin would come to the net more than Hewitt, but I feel it is no where near a classic battle of a Sampras vs. Agassi, or a Borg vs. MacEnroe. :) I would love to see that match in the near future, possibly at the end end championships.

Scott Baker
http://www.tennis4you.com

[Marc]

Sure, the Hewitt vs. Safin match wouldn't be as big as a Sampras vs. Agassi match, BUT you have to wait for these two young players to mature, improve, and most of all, build who they are to the tennis world, thus making fans crave this matchup, like they do with Sampras vs. Agassi.

[tennis4you]

OOO, trust me, I do not doubt that they could be the next HUGE rivaly, I am just doubting the HUGE contrast in styles like the above I mentioned. :)

I am excited about the next few years in mens tennis. I wish I knew more about up coming young stars!!! I will miss Samoras though. :(

Scott Baker
http://www.tennis4you.com

[coach tom]

Hewitt and Safin could very well be the next huge rivalry, but when you talk about waiting for them to mature, be careful.

Bjorn Borg was on the tennis scene for less than a decade. After a brief rookie year in '73 he hit the WCT tour hard (the predecessor to the ATP) in 1974, made some noise, won a few tournaments in 1975, and then ruled tennis straght through till 1980, then he vanished forever. He left the game before he turned 30. Since that time the "stars" have all been extremely young and disappear quickly (a couple of years.) Look at the tour today. Sampras, all of 28, is considered the elder statesmen. So is Agassi. Even Agassi's star shined very bright for only a couple of years. With few exceptions, the style of play and the way the new breed is taught favors the very young and hungry player. Safin and Hewitt may very well fade in less then three years. Look at Jimmy Arias, Aaron Krickstein, Andrea Jaeger, Tracy Austin, Michael Stich, Van Roost, even Jennifer Capriati all had meteoric rises only to crash and burn a few years later. The Williams sisters even seem to show signs of an impending fade.

The days of the Smiths, Rosewalls, Newcombes, Emersons, Navratilovas, Kings, Everts, Goolagongs and Pancho Gonzalezs are gone forever. Stars burn brighter but shorter in the tennis sky now. So it depends on your definition of mature.....

[tennis4you]

True, they seem to fade fast. You would hope though that at age 19 you are still going to get better, we will have to wait and see.

I believe that Sampras is at the old age of 29. B-day = 7.12.71. lol, I am not far behind...

Scott Baker
http://www.tennis4you.com

[Marc]

Good point, Scott. It's absolutely stunning how you are considered "old" in sports when you are 29 and 30. On the other hand, it would be pretty nice if you are someone like Sampras, to retire at 30-something and have many, many more years to live life to the fullest without worrying about work or money. :)

[tennis4you]

AMEN!!!