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2008-01-13 17:19:00
I’m a very big fan of Lleyton Hewitt as a tennis player. Whenever he enters the court, there is a certain intensity and fighting spirit present which makes it enjoyable to watch. It’s very hard to find a player with a more apparent will to win a match at any prize. More over, he’s also got an appealing style of play, with a well rounded game which makes him lethal on any surface on a good day.
However, Hewitt is not a very popular guy. Not even in his home country. This is a wonder considering that he’s been World No. 1 and represents a country where people really care about tennis. At the moment, Hewitt is trying very hard to change this image. Among other things, upon entering his first round match in Sydney, he asked a handicapped boy to help him carry his bags onto the court, and this is something which was emphasized to a large degree by Hewitt’s buddy and on court speaker. This was a nice gesture, but I’m sorry Lleyton, it’s just too late and appeared to be nothing more than a cheap marketing gimmick.
Individual athletes such as tennis players are many times judged by the first impressions people have of them. When Lleyton Hewitt burst onto the scene as a teenager, he was a genuine fighter but also someone who was immature and didn’t know how to handle himself in all the media situations he was caught up in. That’s perfectly understandable. His peers of the same age were in ninth grade while he was winning an ATP title and becoming a household name. Suddenly, everyone expected him to behave like an adult and know how to answer all the challenging questions from seasoned journalists.
That’s why it’s crucial for young stars to have the right people around them giving advice on how to respond to different situations. But it’s a hard balance. Some of the young stars are media trained to a degree which makes them lose their personality completely. The player who comes to mind right away is Maria Sharapova, who always sounds like a machine during interviews: “I’m very happy to get through, I always love playing here, I knew she would be a tough opponent, now I look forward to the next match and hope to raise my game further, and so on…” To her defence, she’s not the only one, but it’s hard to find a clearer example of the “robot-syndrome”.
One player who succeeded in changing his image was Andre Agassi. The younger fans might not remember that Agassi was often a complete jerk on the court in his younger days. He was screaming obscenities and had a true bad boy image. But he was popular. Extremely popular. As his career went on, he gradually changed his image from a crazy teenage star wearing clothes never seen in tennis before to a family man wearing neat white clothes talking about the importance of his family and charity. He remained popular, albeit in a different way and in some ways among a different crowd.
For Lleyton Hewitt to truly become a popular guy, he needs to go from unpopular to popular. That’s a completely different ball game, with the odds stacked up against the 26-year old Australian.
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