Dogged Hewitt keeps up the fight

COMPARING Lleyton Hewitt to a terrier with a bone would not be far-fetched. The Aussie counter-puncher doesn't give up. He sometimes loses, but it's not for the want of trying. Which is why SW19 has come alive again in his presence.

The gold and green barmy army have something to shout about again and they are mighty relieved. Not as relieved as he is after an enforced lay-off that frustrated as much as reinvigorated him. But he knew it was necessary. For too long he had been fighting a hip problem, the low groundstrokes and dogged play finally taking their toll. A renowned scrapper who scuttles along the baseline, snapping away, relishing the dogfight, last year the bark was proving worse than his bite and it was the first time in a decade he failed to win a title.

A hip injury Hewitt sustained in March 2008 which affected his preparation for the French Open was at the root of the slump. It cost him 300 ranking points when he pulled out the Hamburg Masters – a tournament in which he had reached the semi-finals a year earlier. That was to be pattern as the year progressed. But it said everything about Hewitt's determination that he still made it through to the third round at Roland Garros, where he produced another gutsy display but ultimately lost a compelling five-set match to fifth seed David Ferrer.

Even the arrival of the grass season could not gee him up significantly. He reached the quarter-finals at Queens and the fourth round at Wimbledon, where Roger Federer showed little sentiment for the fellow past champion and bounced him out of the tournament in straight sets. It was the beginning of the end of his season. He knew he wasn't reaching the heights in form he wanted and gave himself some time out. But, such is his personality, when it came to the Olympics, he headed to Beijing and kept plugging away. It caused further damage to the hip. He had surgery and had to sit out the US Open and spent the rest of the season recuperating.

"I think it probably hit home more when the US Open was on last year after I'd had surgery and I was sitting back at home just twiddling my thumbs, changing nappies and stuff, but not doing a lot of other things," he said. It is not a role he wants to adopt full-time. Which is why he is proving such a pest again. The competitiveness has never been diluted, the need to win as dominant as always and the fitness is back. The footwork is as nimble and smart as it was in his heyday and he now has experience to add to the industry. Which is probably why he has rediscovered some of the consistency he has enjoyed in the past and is revelling in his latest Wimbledon showing.

"It's obviously important always, you know, especially the first week, to try and get a clean week and not waste a whole lot of energy and not put your body through too much. But, again, you've got to be able to survive that first week and put yourself in a spot to do some damage the second week. (At my age] there's probably a little more time spent recovering and with the hip now that's just ongoing rehab and a lot of physio work, whether it's a big tournament or a small tournament."

Robbie Ginepri was his first round victim. Next was Juan Martin Del Potro. Ranked fifth in the world, he was still unable to take a set off Hewitt, whose ranking has fallen to 56 due to his long lay-off. It was deemed the biggest upset of the second round but also shows that statistics do lie. Hewitt is better than his ranking would suggest. On the evidence of the year so far, much better and he is buoyed by the fact he now has everything to gain as he enters a period of the year where he missed tournaments last term and has no ranking points to defend. The likelihood of him whizzing back up the rankings is high. It appeals to his sense of purpose and competitiveness. None of which will thrill his rivals.

Yesterday his skill and his hunger to again reach Wimbledon's latter stages showed again. On Court No 2, commandeered as a little patch of Australia among the petunias, he followed Sam Stosur, who may have lost but at least did her job of warming up the Oz fans.

And he revved them up even further, with a demonstration of just how good he can be against Philipp Petzschner of Germany, progressing without dropping a set, 7-5, 7-6, 6-3.

Many are now wondering just how far he can go at this year's Championships. Next up is Radek Stepanek but there is no doubting Hewitt loves the grass and enjoys the advantage it gives him over others.

"There's still areas where grass, compared with any other surface, where you can get a slight edge I think from knowing how to move and how to play and the craft of playing on this surface. Over five sets on grass, a lot of things can happen as well. There's a lot of up and down.

"When you get those small opportunities, you've really got to try and take them but I feel like I move pretty well on this surface, so..."

So, watch this space. A year ago Hewitt was down but the best fighters don't stay on the canvas longer than necessary. Like the Aussie they pick themselves up and keep slugging.