Hewitt chasing a treble
World number one Lleyton Hewitt is out to complete a hat-trick of victories in this week’s Stella Artois Championships at Queen’s as he prepares for his assault on Wimbledon.
The 21-year-old Australian is aiming to emulate the feat of John McEnroe, who won the first three titles in 1979, 1980 and 1981.
Hewitt beat Tim Henman in last year’s final and the British number one will again be his chief rival among the 56-strong field, although Swede Thomas Enqvist stands in his way in the top half of the draw.
Henman has yet to win at Queen’s and, having lost to Pete Sampras in the 1999 final, will be hoping to make it third-time lucky.
He has a bye into the second round, where he will meet the winner of the tie between teenage sensation Richard Gasquet and South African Neville Godwin, who is ranked 101 in the world.
Gasquet, who does not turn 16 until two days after the final, will be the youngest-ever player to appear in the main draw after organisers awarded him a wild card.
He beat three players inside the top 100 in Monte Carlo in April and is widely regarded as the most exciting prospect to burst onto the tennis scene since Boris Becker, who won the Stella Artois and then Wimbledon as a 17-year-old in 1985.
Gasquet won his first professional match at an even younger age than Becker.
Sampras and Andre Agassi have decided to hone their preparations for Wimbledon elsewhere but a trio of former Stella champions, Todd Martin, Wayne Ferreira and Mark Philippoussis, are taking advantage of the grass courts of Queen’s before heading to the All England Club on June 24.
British number two Greg Rusedski is much in need of practice after missing the French Open through injury and he will play the winner of the first-round tie between fellow Briton Martin Lee and Philippoussis.
The British contingent is increased by the presence of Alex Bogdanovic, Jamie Delgado and Arvind Parmar, who all received wild cards.
Eighteen-year-old Bogdanovic, ranked 521 in the world, is delighted to be involved in the traditional grass-court Wimbledon stepping stone.
He said: ‘‘It means a lot to me to have the opportunity to experience the atmosphere at the Stella and to be able to play with such great players.’’
Parmar will be hoping to reproduce his Stella Artois form of 2000 when he defeated 1998 champion Scott Draper in the first round and then took a set off Pete Sampras in the second.
Organisers are hoping for fine weather in a bid to top last year’s record crowds of 52,050 for the seven days.
