Tennis: Hewitt promises to be mentally ready

SYDNEY - Lleyton Hewitt is sick and tired of hearing about Mark Edmondson being the last Australian man to win the Australian Open and insists he's as hungry as ever to break the 30-year title drought.

Edmondson's stunning unseeded triumph over fellow Australian John Newcombe in the 1976 final was the last time a local lifted the Norman Brookes Challenge Cup.

"I hear that every year, so ... well, I tried my best last year," Hewitt said.

Like his childhood idol Pat Cash in 1987 and 1988, Hewitt stumbled at the final hurdle at last year's centenary Open, falling to Marat Safin in four gripping sets in the championship decider.

The 24-year-old world No.4 remains desperate to win the title - but for personal gratification, not to end the long wait for success-starved Australian fans.

"It means a hell of a lot to anyone, especially an Australian and especially after coming so close last year," Hewitt said ahead of the first grand slam of 2006 starting at Melbourne Park on Monday.

The two-time major champion says carrying the hopes of the nation doesn't bother him too much.

He dismissed suggestions he was less motivated following his marriage last year to soapie star Bec Cartwright and the birth of the couple's first child in November.

Hewitt sat out the season-ending Masters Cup in Shanghai, a prestigious event he's won twice previously, to be with his wife when daughter Mia was born, and has since struggled on his return to the tour.

He perished in the second round in Adelaide last week and relinquished his crown in Sydney on Thursday with a surprise quarter-final loss to Italian qualifier Andreas Seppi.

Quite remarkably, for one of the most consistent players on the ATP Tour, Hewitt will head into the Australian Open having not raised a trophy for more than 12 months.

The last time the former world No.1 didn't have a trophy to defend - somewhere, anywhere -- was eight years ago.

Yet the Open's third seed, who will commence his campaign against Czech world No.57 Robin Vik, says his new role as husband and father hadn't robbed him of his famous competitive edge.

"I've been training as hard as I've ever trained throughout November and December and when I get on the court and the practice court or in the gym or wherever, it's the same as usual," Hewitt said.

"Every time I go out there, I focus on what I need to do."

Hewitt, who battled a stomach bug all week that left him well below 100 per cent, put his shock exit in Sydney down to being "too defensive" when he twice served for a place in the semi-finals.

He conceded that closing out matches, especially best-of-five-set encounters at the Australian Open, was an area of his game that needed improving if he was to make another run in Melbourne.

"That's what you've got to be able to do against the best players at the business end of a grand slam," Hewitt said.

"I probably had to rely on being mentally tough this week more than ever, purely because when you're not feeling great it's sometimes more of a mental battle than a physical one out there.

"I don't think I've lost any of that.

"The most important thing is to be mentally ready, ready to go when the grand slam starts. The last seven or eight grand slams, I've been able to do that."

- AAP