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Lleyton Hewitt - Source: Reuters -
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Lleyton Hewitt painted a grim picture for tennis fans in Australia and New Zealand on Thursday.
The 28-year-old, facing the media after a tough loss to Frenchmen Gael Monfils, was asked to assess the current state of Australasian tennis.
"It is always going to be a little bit tougher nowadays with the amount of countries and so many countries with great players out there" he told tvnz.co.nz.
Hewitt has been the flagbearer for Australian tennis for the best part of a decade, winning two Grand Slams among 27 tour titles and with the retirement of steady professionals like Wayne Arthurs and Darren Cahill he is the only Antipodean that can make the main draw in ATP events.
It is a far cry from the 1980's and 1990's, when a legion of Aussies led by Pat Cash, John Fitzgerald, Wally Masur and Paul MacNamee ensured the regular representation on the ATP tours.
The situation is even bleaker across the Tasman in New Zealand.
Brett Steven was the last regular Kiwi on the ATP tour, and he retired in 1999 after ten years on the tour.
Before Steven players such as Chris Lewis, Russell Simpson, Kelly Evernden represented New Zealand with real distinction in the 1980's and early part of the 1990's.
Hewitt recognised that the stakes have changed in modern tennis.
"It's getting tougher to be able to produce the amount of players that Australia had at the top of their game" he said.
The former world number one was quick to qualify his comment.
"[But] obviously we can do definitely do better than where we are at the moment.
"That wouldn't be hard."
tvnz.co.nz's Michael Burgess is in China courtesy of the
Asia New Zealand foundation and travelled there with Air New
Zealand. He is aiming to investigate the impact and legacy of the
2008 Beijing Olympic Games and will be writing about the sights and
sounds of China along the way.
