Roche to train Hewitt?
After separating from Roger Federer two weeks ago, Tony Roche has said he would be interested in coaching Lleyton Hewitt. Former world number one Hewitt has no coach since he split with Roger Rasheed in January, and has mentioned the possibility of working with the 1996 French Open winner. "It would be nice to work with an Australian again, and I’ve known Lleyton for a long time,” said 62-year-old Roche. “Right now he’s at the French Open and then he’ll be heading for Wimbledon. But when he gets back to Australia I’ll be happy to meet up and talk it over.”
Journalists like a flutter
A growing phenomenon reported in French daily Liberation is the betting on matches by tennis journalists. One such gambler, speaking anonymously, says there are three golden rules for the sports scribes when taking on the bookies at tennis: "Never bet on matches you’re covering, never bet on doubles (too unpredictable), and never bet on Roger Federer (the odds are too low)."
Jankovic nearly quit
It’s hard to believe, but Jelena Jankovic seriously considered giving up the game just one year ago. After a calamitous run of nine consecutive first round defeats she could see no light at the end of the tunnel: "I’d lost all my motivation. Nothing was going right and I was ready to throw the towel in. Then I made the quarters in Rome and I said to myself, you can turn things around. And that’s exactly what I’ve done," said the world No.4.
Hewitt training with Reyes
Lleyton Hewitt called on the services of Gil Reyes, Andre Agassi’s former fitness coach, to hone his fitness in the run-up to the French Open. "He worked on some things I’ve never worked on before. All that preparation is starting to pay dividends now," says the Australian, who fought back from two sets down to defeat Gaston Gaudio in the second round.
