Former Wimbledon Champion Lleyton Hewitt believes that he can mount a serious challenge at SW19 this year, despite his defeat to Andy Roddick at Queen’s Club.
The Aussie, 28, has suffered a slip down the rankings in the past few year’s as players such as Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal have progressed to dominate the men’s game. Hewitt has been outclassed by the pair on many occasions, leading many critics to believe that Hewitt’s Wimbledon success came at a time when the men’s game was at it’s weakest for some time.
Hewitt is adamant however that he can mount a decent challenge once again in this year’s grasscourt surface, and he was pleased with his warm-up at Queen’s, despite narrowly going down 7-6 7-6 to American Roddick.
“I feel like this week's been a positive week for me. I'm happy the way that I've hit the ball. Now it's just a matter of fine tuning a few things and being fresh and mentally ready more than anything” said Hewitt. ‘‘Hopefully I can get a good draw at Wimbledon and we will see what happens.’’
Lleyton Hewitt is 200/1 with Paddy Power to repeat his 2002 triumph, odds which surely suggest that his best year’s are definitely behind him. The Aussie is also likely to be unseeded, meaning that he could face one of the highly ranked players as early as round three.