Thanks to tara who posted this in Lleytonland. According to the article, Lleyton has no specific plans, but does intend to participate in the two masters series events. Also, info. about Mark's schedule and the points race.
I think the schedule will depend on his injury and what happens at DC. If he is fit, he will try to play Tokyo, I would imagine, because of his sponsorship from Yonex. Hope this helps...
Hewitt targets Europe
By Margie McDonald
September 10, 2003
LLEYTON HEWITT will head to Europe after this month's Davis Cup semi-final to try to force his way into the field for the $US3.7million ($5.69m) end-of-season Masters Cup for a fourth year in a row.
The 22-year-old has won the lucrative title in the past two years to secure the end-of-year world No.1 ranking both times.
A spokeswoman for Hewitt said the South Australian's schedule had not been determined beyond playing for Australia against Switzerland in the Davis Cup semi-final at Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne (September 19-21).
But his plans definitely include the last two Masters Series tournaments ¡V in Madrid (starting on October 13) and Paris (October 27). Each offers 100 Champions Race points for the winner, 70 for the runner-up and 45 for the semi-finalists.
The top eight players in the Champions Race as of November 3 qualify for the Masters Cup, to be contested this year in Houston, Texas.
Juan Carlos Ferrero, winner of the French Open and runner-up at the US Open, and Andy Roddick have already qualified. Wimbledon champion Roger Federer, Australian Open winner Andre Agassi and Argentina's Guillermo Coria are almost certain to qualify.
A player accumulates points from the four Grand Slams, the nine Masters Series tournaments and his best five results from the other events on the ATP Tour.
Hewitt fell out of the top eight at the end of April but his quarter-final appearance at the US Open pushed him from 13th to ninth on 290 points &ndash: 68 behind Argentina's consistent David Nalbandian.
An ATP spokeswoman in Sydney said Hewitt had not entered any of the tournaments in the month after the Davis Cup leading up to Madrid, where he would be an automatic qualifier. "But he can always get a wild-card," the spokeswoman said.
Hewitt has a 34-10 win-loss record this year, his best result being his tournament win at the Indian Wells Masters Series event in March.
But he picked up a few points in the big tournaments between Indian Wells and the US Open, losing in the third round at the French Open, the second round at the Canada Masters Series and first round of Wimbledon and Cincinnati Masters Series.
In that time, Hewitt dropped from No.1 to No.7.
His coach Roger Rasheed believes Hewitt was approaching his best form again before tightness of his left hip flexor muscle in a quarter-final against Ferrero.
Rasheed, who took over the coaching reins from Jason Stoltenberg after the French Open in June, told AAP in New York that Hewitt was "on his way back".
"We put things in place and have been working, developing his game to be No.1 again. And he will be that," Rasheed said.
"It takes time. It's a shame (he was injured against Ferrero) because he was playing some good tennis."
Mark Philippoussis is 10th in the Champions Race, 14 points behind Hewitt and 82 behind Nalbandian.
As well as planning to play in Madrid and Paris, he has entered Shanghai (September 22), Tokyo (September 29) and Basel (October 20) events.
"He's going to try very hard to make it (to the Masters Cup)," a spokesman for Philippoussis said.
"The indoor carpet surface for Madrid and Paris suit him because it helps his serve and volley style."