Aussie stars ready for Beijing battle
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China Daily, July 6, 2011
The Australians have come fully loaded for their Davis Cup Asia/Oceania Zone Group One second-round clash with host China, which gets under way on Friday at the cosy Beijing International Tennis Center.
Two-time Grand Slam winner Lleyton Hewitt will spearhead the Aussie charge, but most eyes will probably follow his teenage teammate, Bernard Tomic, who made it all the way to the quarterfinals at Wimbledon last week before being knocked out in four tight sets by eventual champion Novak Djokovic.
The 18-year-old is coming off a career high and has broken into the world's top 100 for the first time, but he says he is still ready for the task ahead.
"I had a good tournament but I am rested and ready to go and can't wait until it starts on Friday," Tomic said at a press conference at the venue on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, veteran Hewitt, 30, loves nothing more than representing his country and that zeal has not diminished despite the fact he might be entering the twilight of a great pro career which saw him win the US Open and Wimbledon titles in 2001 and 2002 respectively.
"It obviously means a lot (Davis Cup), otherwise I wouldn't be here. It's a qualifying tie at this stage of my career (my aim is to) get back to the World Group," the South Australian said.
The Australian squad, which also includes hard-serving lefty Chris Guccione and Marinko Matosevic, will be captained by another two-time major winner, Pat Rafter.
While not overly familiar with the Chinese team, he says he has a good idea of what to expect when the tie serves off.
"I know they played very well and had a very good win over Chinese Taipei," Rafter said.
"They obviously play very good Davis Cup tennis and I saw a few of their boys in Caloundra (Queensland) earlier this year in a Challenger (event) and they improved during that and I expect them to be very talented and competitive."
As for his new-found captaincy role, assisted by veteran coach Tony Roche, the Queenslander said: "I think I will learn a lot as the years go on (but) the plan is to win."
While Hewitt faltered at Wimbledon and was bounced in the second round by Swede Robin Soderling in five tough sets, Tomic shone and emerged as one of the game's rising talents.
Australians also won the boys' and girls' titles on those famous grass courts, but Rafter is not getting too carried away just yet about Australia re-emerging as a world tennis power.
"Bernard now has cracked inside the top100 and is obviously a very good player and the junior kids are coming through, but success in the juniors doesn't mean you necessarily make it in the world rankings. We will be monitoring Luke Saville and Ashleigh Barty and we will keep a close eye on them and help their progression, but from juniors to seniors is a big step," he said.
The winner of this weekend's tie will play in September for a place in the World Group.
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