[warfreakbix]

Hi, just read an article about Rod Laver, the only other person to win all the grand slams in a year. In the article he said that Hewitt can win the grand slam because he can play on all surfaces although because of the tour's depth it would be tough. Do you think that Hewitt have the well-rounded game to win all four in a year?

 

[Experimentee]

There are at least ten good clay courters on any given day that could beat him at the French. And as for the others, theres just too much depth on the tour now, he'd have to watch out for all the Johanssons etc, in fact i dont see anyone winning all GS in one year at the moment. So my answer is no.

 

[TheBoiledEgg]

at least 10??
more like at least 50 can give Hewitt the run around
they might not beat him, but the earlier ones will really wear him out.
the class ones will finish him off in 3 easy sets.

think the hardest one for him to win could be the AUS Open as well...... too much pressure and the courts are pretty slow.

 

[Experimentee]

At least 10 can beat him easily, but of course theres more that can stretch him to five. You have a point about the Aus Open too, he's never been past the 4th round here.

 

[Nacho]

I don't see Lleyton winning 7 consecutive matches at the French...

 

[Ada Monroe]

Actually Don Budge also won the grand slam in 1938. In fact he won 6 straight slams, the only man to do so.

Hewitt won't win THE grand slam. He'll have a lot of difficulty winning the French Open. That's the one slam he may have to go without. He will have to wait for a long time (if ever) to win Wimbledon again. His Wimbledon win this year will become like Agassi's 92 win.

He will have success at the Australian and US Opens though.

 

[warfreakbix]

Thanks Marat&Venus_Fan, yes he is THE OTHER one, I'm too lazy to look up his name The article also mentioned that it is Roland Garros where Hewitt will have most difficulty winning, what is it about Hewitt's game that does not suit the red clay of Roland Garros anyway? Sorry, the only time I saw him play in clay was in Hamburg against Marat and you all knew what happened there so I cannot make an assessment about his game then. Anybody? Help?

 

[Scotso]

Yes he can.

 

[J. Corwin]

I don't think so imho. I mean he CAN per se...but it will be an extremely difficult task for him. There's too much depth in the tour now...and even discounting the FO, he will most likely have massive troubles with the likes of Rusedski, Srichapan, Moya, Federer, etc. even on the hard courts. We shall see how he performs in the upcoming AO though...

 

[jrm]

i don't its possible by anyone

 

[Ma. Estefania]

I think that no.
It will be impossible, and not only to Lleyton, to every player will be very hard to accomplish this.
You know, in every Grand Slam there will be, yeah, the top players, but there will be also a bunch of lower ranked players who will be fighting, so it's pretty hard.
The maximum that I see, is a player winning 2 Grand Slams in the same season.

 

[KFS]

No....

OZ Open - Traditionally the Aussies not doing well in here.. The best result for an Aussie in recent years is Pat Rafter who reached the SF in 2001.

French Open - There are plenty of clay specialists out there better than Lleyton... The Spaniards and Argentians!!!

Wimbledon - The slam where the Aussies stand the best!!!

US Open - Like Wimbledon... the Aussies are usually doing well at here!! Pat Rafter - Winner 1997 & 1998 / Lleyton Hewitt - Winner 2001

Sum up my opinions... I believe Lleyton stands a very good chance to win Wimbledon and US Open.. but not OZ Open & French Open....

 

[Chloe le Bopper]

I think he will win Australia eventually, but no the French Open.

If anyone on tour CAN do it, his name is Marat...

 

[tennisvideos]

I agree with Rebecca. I can see him winning the Aussie Open. He actually thrives on pressure and is very keen to do well there. The surface suits him too, he has won on it in Adelaide and Sydney.

The French is definately his toughest assignment. There are so many great claycourters and they are the players that seem to give Lleyton the most trouble. He doesn't seem comfortable against the high bouncing topspin.. plus many of the claycourters can run all day as well... and Lleyton gets frustrated.

Safin has the ability, but I am not sure he has the mind set to win all those matches in succession. He seems to implode too easily. But I like Marat a lot and would like to see him do well.

 

[Lindsayfan]

nope he cant,RG will always be tough for him.

 

[Experimentee]

If Marat gets his head together maybe he will in the future, but no one else.

 

[tennischick]

i disagree with y'all. i'm no fan of the Potato but i think he can do it. he has the stamina to withstand the # of matches on any surface. i would never have picked him to win Wimby with his baseline game and look what happened? in fact, i would have picked him to win RG over Wimby any day. if he wins Australia 2003, he will have the psychological edge over his opponents to complete the Grand Slam IMO. unfortunately....

 

[Chloe le Bopper]

I will not rule out a career slam, but I still think that in order to win Roland Garros he will need a VERY favourable draw (Andre, is that you?), with some of the top contendors losing early etc etc...

There are about half a dozen in Spain alone who would take him out in 5 on clay...

Corretja for example, has a good record against Hewitt as it is. If they played at ROland Garros, I would put good money on Alex. Past his prime or not.

In 2001 Ferrero made mince meat out of Hewitt - and NO Hewitt was not number one then and is far better now - but um, so is Ferrero. (it's also worth noting that Canas had him by the ropes in 2001 and should have by all means won, but ran out of steam).

I don't think that I even need to go into the possibility of he playing MOya at Roland Garros....

If Guga comes back healthy - YES Hewitt beat him on clay in Brazil, but Hewitt is a different player when he plays for this country and Guga is when he plays are ROland Garros...

Bascially in order for Hewitt to win the French Open he will need one hell of a draw, a couple injuries, and a choke or two.

 

[Ma. Estefania]

French Open - There are plenty of clay specialists out there better than Lleyton... The Spaniards and Argentians!!!

This is very true, and you can even include other latinamericans and french players.

 

[maratski]

Lleyton thinks that in a few years time he'll be able to do well on clay, but personally I think he'll never win RG.
Marat IMO is the only one who can win the slam looking at this tennisgeneration.