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London: For somebody who has lost his last 11 matches against Roger Federer and has a sore hip, Australian battler Lleyton Hewitt is amazingly upbeat about their fourth round clash at Wimbledon on Monday.
Hewitt, who won Wimbledon in 2002 before Federer's five-year domination began, has already gone further than his 20th seeding spot this year as he gallantly plays the lone ranger for Australian men's tennis.
"This is what you play for. There's no doubt about it," the 27-year-old told reporters when looking ahead to his 21st professional meeting with a player he first locked horns with when they were juniors.
Tough competitor
"Especially in my situation, you know, these are the matches I enjoy. It's good to get out there and play on Centre Court, play against the best player in the world."
Hewitt, the dominant force in men's tennis when he won the 2001 US Open and Wimbledon a year later, has not been to a grand slam quarterfinal for two years yet is still feared as one of the toughest competitors on the circuit. Federer himself is a big admirer of Hewitt, the only other man in the draw to have won Wimbledon.
"It's always a challenge playing Lleyton. He's a great player, a guy I really enjoy watching as well. He's a great competitor," the Swiss, who has looked serene so far as he chases a sixth consecutive Wimbledon title, said.
"We go back a long time. We played when we were 15 for the first time against each other. I saved match point and won in the end. So we go way back. I think it's an intriguing match for both of us.
"It's been a while, but at the same time he knows what it takes to win slams. I think Lleyton Hewitt definitely believes very strongly in his chances."
Whatever Federer says publicly, it would be a huge shock to rival anything seen so far at this topsy turvy championships if Hewitt hustled the champion out.
Federer can do everything Hewitt does and plenty more besides. While the Swiss can call upon tennis from another galaxy at times, Hewitt's no-frills game is as rugged as the great Australian outback.
What he does have in abundance, however, is bags of fight and a few words of wisdom from Federer's former coach Tony Roche who he has now teamed up with.
"Against a guy like Roger, you really have to take half chances when you get them, because you're not going to get many."
Order of play
Centre Court (1200, all times GMT, prefix number denotes seeding): 1-Roger Federer (Switzerland) v 20-Lleyton Hewitt (Australia); 4-Svetlana Kuznetsova (Russia) v 14-Agnieszka Radwanska (Poland); 8-Richard Gasquet (France) v 12-Andy Murray (Britain).
Court One (1200): 18-Nicole Vaidisova (Czech Republic) v 8-Anna Chakvetadze (Russia); 17-Mikhail Youzhny (Russia) v 2-Rafael Nadal (Spain); Marat Safin (Russia) v 13-Stanislas Wawrinka (Switzerland).
Court Two (1100): 7-Venus Williams (US) v Alisa Kleybanova (Russia); Bethanie Mattek (US) v 6-Serena Williams (US); Janko Tipsarevic (Serbia) v Rainer Schuettler (Germany).
Court Three (1100): Zheng Jie (China) v 15-Agnes Szavay (Hungary); 21-Nadia Petrova (Russia) v Alla Kudryavtseva (Russia).
Court 18 (1100): Tamarine Tanasugarn (Thailand) v 2-Jelena Jankovic (Serbia); 10-Marcos Baghdatis (Cyprus) v 31-Feliciano Lopez (Spain);
Court 11 (1100): 22-Fernando Verdasco (Spain) v Mario Ancic (Croatia); 5-Elena Dementieva (Russia) v 24-Shahar Peer (Israel); Marin Cilic (Croatia) v Arnaud Clement (France).
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