Lleyton Hewitt

Former No.1 Amelie Mauresmo will join the world's top four women in a star-studded line-up at the Medibank International in Sydney in January.
 
The 2006 Australian Open and Wimbledon champion has foregone an invitation to the Hobart International, scheduled for the same week, to take part in the tournament, which will take place at the Sydney Olympic Park Tennis Centre from January 11-17.
 
Mauresmo has endured an injury-plagued 2008 and has dropped to 24th in the world rankings.
 

Swashbuckling Frenchman Gael Monfils believes Lleyton Hewitt's loss is his gain after linking up with the Australian's former coach Roger Rasheed.

Hewitt and Rasheed split in 2007 after a four-year partnership and now Monfils is reaping the benefits of the coach's widely-respected knowledge.

"Roger's making me more focussed on my game and more disciplined. It's really helping and the results are starting to come. I'm learning how to stay focussed and play tough."

Nine-time Grand Slam champion Serena Williams will play in January's Sydney International, organisers said Thursday, meaning the event will feature the top three women players and the Olympic champion.
 
Williams, 27, the world number three and current US Open champion, joins world number one Jelena Jankovic, second-ranked Dinara Safina, and Beijing gold medallist Elena Dementieva in the January 11-17 mixed tournament.
 

Former world number one Lleyton Hewitt will make his return from hip surgery at the Sydney International tennis tournament in January, the Australian said in a statement on Tuesday.

Hewitt, who has won the warm-up event for the Australian Open four times, said his recovery from surgery following a disappointing showing at the Beijing Olympics in August was going well.

"I am really looking forward to the Australian summer," the 27-year-old said.

For many reasons, 2008 was a season that went against convention. Would you have guessed that, heading into the US Open, Roger Federer and Justine Henin would have no Grand Slam titles between them? It’s been a very interesting year, no matter which player you support.
 
Typically, the four Grand Slam tournaments have a way of revealing everything in tennis, and that happened again this year, for better or worse:
 
The Best…
 

The absence of Lleyton Hewitt has forced Australia’s selectors to choose a relatively inexperienced line-up for this month’s Davis Cup World Cup playoff in Chile.

With Hewitt unavailable because of a hip injury and experienced doubles player Paul Hanley also booked in for surgery, Australia’s non-playing captain John Fitzgerald was left with no alternative than to pick a new-look team.

Australia's Lleyton Hewitt will miss the remainder of the season after undergoing arthroscopic surgery on his troublesome hip.

Spaniard Rafael Nadal, who will usurp Roger Federer at No. 1 in the South African Airways ATP Rankings on August 18, produced a Center Court master-class Tuesday to beat former World No. 1 and two-time Grand Slam champion Lleyton Hewitt of Australia 6-1, 6-2 for a place in the third round at the Beijing Olympics. Nadal recorded his third successive win in eight career meetings over Hewitt to improve his ATP-best season record to 66-8. He is attempting to win his eighth title of the year.

One week removed from replacing Roger Federer as new World No. 1, Rafael Nadal endured a taxing test before turning back 74th-ranked Italian Potito Starace, 6-2, 3-6, 6-2, in an opening-round match of the Beijing Olympic Games on Monday.

Starace had never taken a set from Nadal in four prior meetings - all contested on clay - but the Italian crunched a running forehand pass to break for a 2-0 second-set lead. Starace staved off five break points to hold serve for 5-2 and served out the set two games later.

Andy Murray is the hottest player in men's tennis right now, but how will he fare on his Olympic debut in Beijing?