Brisbane, Jan 3 (IANS) Australian tennis player Lleyton Hewitt might not have won a tournament in nearly two years but the former World No. 1 feels he still has it in him to give the best players on the circuit a run for their money.
'I'm the ultimate competitor, I think. And yeah I know I've done everything in my power to get back to as close as 100 per cent as I can,' Hewitt was quoted as saying in Fox Sports.
'I still feel I'm good enough to knock off anyone on any given day.
'Against Roger (Federer) at Wimbledon (fourth round) I had chances, especially in the first set. I had him under all sorts of pressure and that's on his best surface. We're in his backyard basically there. So I really wasn't anywhere close to 100 per cent at that tournament.
'But I feel against the best guys I match up pretty well. You know even against Rafa (Nadal), I match up well. I've had a good record against him, especially on hard courts in the last few years.'
'Even last year in the slams it's taken the top four or five guys to beat me. I don't lose to too many average players in the big tournaments over five sets,' he said.
Training hard with coach Tony Roche, Hewitt will make his 13th appearance at the first Grand Slam of the year, the Australian Open. Before that, he will play his first match in five months Monday when Australia takes on Germany in the Hopman Cup.
'Rod Laver Arena's been a happy hunting ground for me and I've had some of my best matches there. Hopefully 2009 will be another one.'
Hewitt will head to the Australian Open with his lowest world ranking of 67 after his worst year on the men's tour.
His hip fell apart during the Beijing Olympics and surgery was the only option.
'After one match (in Beijing), my whole leg basically shut down,' Hewitt said.
'And that pretty much told me I had to have something done. I flew straight back to Australia, had it done the next morning and have been out of action since.'
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