The 29-year-old, who stands behind Andy Roddick and American John Isner in the seedings, is well at home on the North American hardcourts. The winner of ten career titles on the continent - including the US Open in 2001 - is also a veteran of Atlanta.
The event was returned to the ATP calendar this season after a nine-year absence in the wake of a financial deal with the bankrupt Indianapolis event.
Hewitt's previous visit to the southern American city came in 1999 when it was played on green clay.
"I'm quite comfortable on the hard courts," said the former number one. "I don't think it's too early to start. I'll take next week and one more off before the Open (which begins August 30).
The Australian, now based with his family just a flight away in the Bahamas, is keen to put the confidence he gained from a title victory on grass last month in Halle, Germany, over Roger Federer to work during the gruelling cement summer season.
"Winning Halle gave me a lot of confidence, especially after beating Roger on grass in a final," said the Aussie. "The top players like him all tend to play their best at the business end of a tournament."
Number 30 Hewitt's last match was the Wimbledon fourth round, where he lost to Novak Djokovic.
"It's been great being able to have some quality family time since finishing at Wimbledon," he told his website. "I've enjoyed spending all my time with (pregnant wife) Bec, Mia and Cruz away from the tennis courts.
"But it's once again business as usual, having arrived in Atlanta I play my first round against the winner of Lukas Lacko and a qualifier.
"I've been training in the heat for the last week and preparing for the American swing towards the US Open."
Hewitt is especially impressed with his progress after undergoing a second hip operation in late January after losing in the Australian Open. "I never expected to get back to from this fast." said the player who has won a title every year except one (2008) since 1998.
Hewitt is planning a full Grand Slam run-up, with his August schedule comprising Washington, Toronto, Cincinnati and then a week off prior to the Open.
"The US summer is always a gruelling time as it can get extremely hot and you have to back up for a lot of matches. My game suits the US hardcourts well.
"I'm hoping for a good run, I've got a lot of matches under my belt right now."
==============================
Some more profit yesterday from 24 bets that came up as qualifying picks. In previous tournaments the early days had usually shown a loss so I am very happy to come out on top after that many selections.
The balance is now £131.31 so almost a third of the way to being doubled. I know that Murray/Nadal at Wimbledon was a pick so it was definitely around that time that I restarted this.
I'll go for the 7th of the month to check against the target, perhaps doubling every 6 weeks looks more realistic but that is still class, doubling the bank in a year is still a very good outcome.
Plenty more picks today, I must be approaching a losing day soon as it's now been 4 or 5 days of continuous profit. We will see.
I may try and watch a bit today after missing it yesterday, it depends what matches are available on stream.
No comments:
Post a Comment