Team warrior Lleyton Hewitt says it will be tough for Australia to win this year's Davis Cup after learning their semi-final opponents will be Andy Murray's Great Britain in September.
Australia, 28-time winners, fought back from 0-2 down to overhaul Kazakhstan 3-2 in Darwin on Sunday with 34-year-old Hewitt winning the fifth and decisive singles rubber.
World No 3 Murray set up a potentially epic Davis Cup semi-final against them when he spearheaded Great Britain’s 3-1 quarter-final win over France in London.
Hewitt, who will take over as the Australian team’s non-playing captain next year, said after Sunday’s triumph that he knows it will be a tricky challenge for his youthful side.
“We’re on the tougher side of the draw,” he said.
“Argentina play Belgium in the other half, which is probably the weaker section.”
The never-say-die Hewitt, who is aiming to add to the Davis Cup titles he won in 1999 and 2003, said that over the past three or four years the event had been as big as any grand slam for him.
“When I make my schedule, everything has worked around the Davis Cup and trying to get the most out of myself,” he said.
“I feel like I can still play a mentor role in the team at the moment, especially on the doubles court.
“But these young guys,” said Hewitt, like world No 40 Nick Kyrgios, 20, and No 72 Thanasi Kokkinakis, 19, “are the future of our team, and right at the moment I’m just trying to help them out as much as possible”.
Hewitt and Sam Groth were the last-day heroes against Kazakhstan after Davis Cup captain Wally Masur went to them over young stars Kyrgios and Kokkinakis, who lost Friday’s opening singles.
Hewitt and Groth joined forces to win Saturday’s pivotal doubles, before triumphing in their singles matches on Sunday.
Masur, meanwhile, said he was confident bad-boy Bernard Tomic will be able to sort out his issues with Tennis Australia in time to link up with the team for the semi-final.
“At the end of the day, we are a pretty small fraternity of tennis players and I hate to think there is someone like a satellite operating individually,” he said.
“I would like to think that we are all in this together.”
Tomic was dumped from the quarter-final showdown against Kazakhstan after a tirade at TA boss Craig Tiley and director of player performance Pat Rafter following his Wimbledon exit.
The world No 29, himself just 22, made more headlines last week when he was arrested in Miami after a noisy penthouse party.
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TEACHERS' PAY - WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
Pay varies significantly depending on the school, its rating and the curriculum. Here's a rough guide as of January 2021:
- top end schools tend to pay Dh16,000-17,000 a month - plus a monthly housing allowance of up to Dh6,000. These tend to be British curriculum schools rated 'outstanding' or 'very good', followed by American schools
- average salary across curriculums and skill levels is about Dh10,000, recruiters say
- it is becoming more common for schools to provide accommodation, sometimes in an apartment block with other teachers, rather than hand teachers a cash housing allowance
- some strong performing schools have cut back on salaries since the pandemic began, sometimes offering Dh16,000 including the housing allowance, which reflects the slump in rental costs, and sheer demand for jobs
- maths and science teachers are most in demand and some schools will pay up to Dh3,000 more than other teachers in recognition of their technical skills
- at the other end of the market, teachers in some Indian schools, where fees are lower and competition among applicants is intense, can be paid as low as Dh3,000 per month
- in Indian schools, it has also become common for teachers to share residential accommodation, living in a block with colleagues
Springtime in a Broken Mirror,
Mario Benedetti, Penguin Modern Classics
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The Perfect Couple
Starring: Nicole Kidman, Liev Schreiber, Jack Reynor
Creator: Jenna Lamia
Rating: 3/5
The specs: 2018 Mercedes-Benz S 450
Price, base / as tested Dh525,000 / Dh559,000
Engine: 3.0L V6 biturbo
Transmission: Nine-speed automatic
Power: 369hp at 5,500rpm
Torque: 500Nm at 1,800rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 8.0L / 100km
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Director: Lynne Ramsay
Starring: Joaquim Phoenix, Ekaterina Samsonov
Four stars
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KEY DEVELOPMENTS IN MARITIME DISPUTE
2000: Israel withdraws from Lebanon after nearly 30 years without an officially demarcated border. The UN establishes the Blue Line to act as the frontier.
2007: Lebanon and Cyprus define their respective exclusive economic zones to facilitate oil and gas exploration. Israel uses this to define its EEZ with Cyprus
2011: Lebanon disputes Israeli-proposed line and submits documents to UN showing different EEZ. Cyprus offers to mediate without much progress.
2018: Lebanon signs first offshore oil and gas licencing deal with consortium of France’s Total, Italy’s Eni and Russia’s Novatek.
2018-2019: US seeks to mediate between Israel and Lebanon to prevent clashes over oil and gas resources.
How to protect yourself when air quality drops
Install an air filter in your home.
Close your windows and turn on the AC.
Shower or bath after being outside.
Wear a face mask.
Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.
If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.
Abu Dhabi GP starting grid
1 Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)
2 Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes)
3 Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari)
4 Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari)
5 Daniel Ricciardo (Red Bull)
6 Max Verstappen (Red Bull)
7 Romain Grosjean (Haas)
8 Charles Leclerc (Sauber)
9 Esteban Ocon (Force India)
10 Nico Hulkenberg (Renault)
11 Carlos Sainz (Renault)
12 Marcus Ericsson (Sauber)
13 Kevin Magnussen (Haas)
14 Sergio Perez (Force India)
15 Fernando Alonso (McLaren)
16 Brendon Hartley (Toro Rosso)
17 Pierre Gasly (Toro Rosso)
18 Stoffe Vandoorne (McLaren)
19 Sergey Sirotkin (Williams)
20 Lance Stroll (Williams)
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Starring: Winona Ryder, Michael Keaton, Jenny Ortega
Director: Tim Burton
Rating: 3/5
Five healthy carbs and how to eat them
Brown rice: consume an amount that fits in the palm of your hand
Non-starchy vegetables, such as broccoli: consume raw or at low temperatures, and don’t reheat
Oatmeal: look out for pure whole oat grains or kernels, which are locally grown and packaged; avoid those that have travelled from afar
Fruit: a medium bowl a day and no more, and never fruit juices
Lentils and lentil pasta: soak these well and cook them at a low temperature; refrain from eating highly processed pasta variants
Courtesy Roma Megchiani, functional nutritionist at Dubai’s 77 Veggie Boutique
