TENNIS: Lleyton Hewitt scurried across the concourse of the Sydney international tennis centre, a mobile phone clamped to his left ear, his blue eyes fixed on his car and the exit. Ticket sales for Australia's Davis Cup world group match against Britain are no better than "steady" but the world number one, having been involved in litigation with the home sponsor, continues to spurn any attempts at the big sell.
So it was left to John Fitzgerald, the captain, and the other team members, Mark Philippoussis, Wayne Arthurs and Todd Woodbridge, to beat the drum yesterday, with all of them steadfastly, and in deference to the sponsors, refusing to burst into laughter at the mention of the British team.
"To have had Tim Henman and Greg Rusedski here would have made it a sensational tie," said the London-based Arthurs. "But you have to prepare in the same way." Fitzgerald was quick to concur. "There is no negative talk about the Brits in our locker room, I can assure you of that," he added, looking as severe and serious as he could.
It has been a most peculiar and somewhat surreal build-up. Roger Taylor, Britain's captain, steadfastly refuses to admit that without Henman and Rusedski he has been left with a pig in a poke; Fitzgerald, well aware that any combination of his players could win with a hand tied behind their backs, remains equally adamant that the British team is not bereft of hope. Nobody is fooled.
A further peculiarity yesterday was the public face of Philippoussis, returning to the Davis Cup fold after three years of injury and disagreements. Fitzgerald continued to make all the right noises - "It's fabulous to have Mark back in the team" - yet Philippoussis gave the impression that he would have been happier anywhere else. Perhaps it was nerves, unless he has had a recurrence of his knee problem.
"I've always said I would be happy playing Davis Cup tennis if I was fit," he said and, when asked about his troublesome knee, replied: "My knee will hold up. No doubts." It may be that Fitzgerald has indicated that Arthurs, currently Australia's number two, will play in the opening singles on Friday rather than Philippoussis, but this will not be known until tomorrow morning. Other than that, there was no accounting for Philippoussis's less than exuberant attitude, although he has always been prone to mood swings.
He and Hewitt have often not seen eye to eye over Davis Cup matters, with Hewitt having been critical of the big man's commitment to the national cause. However, bridges were built after Philippoussis injured his knee again during last year's US Open. The last time Australia won the Davis Cup (teams are to wear the name of their countries on the backs of their shirts from the quarter-final stage in April), in 1999, Philippoussis was the star of the show, winning both his singles matches on clay in Nice, while Hewitt, then only 18, lost both his rubbers.
Since then Australia have lost two finals: in 2000 on clay against Spain in Barcelona, and then on grass against France in Melbourne in 2001. On neither of those occasions was Philippoussis involved. "After this tie I think we can do a lot of damage with this team," said Fitzgerald. "There is no chance we will be experimenting against Britain. We'll be trying to win as quickly as possible." In British time this seems certain to be in the early hours of Saturday morning after the doubles has been played.
