Hewitt support for Murray
Lleyton Hewitt says he fully understands the pressure of expectations weighing on local hope Andy Murray at the London Olympics and reckons he's bearing up well.
It's quickly back on the horse for Murray at his home Olympics, just two weeks after his heart-breaking loss to Roger Federer in the Wimbledon final with the Scot saying he has come to terms with his nightmare loss.
Murray was bidding to become Britain's first Wimbledon men's singles champion for 76 years.
Australian Hewitt, 31, in his twilight of his injury-ravaged career with his ranking down to 158, said the world No 4 would be anxious to atone for his shock first-round defeat by Chinese Taipei's Lu Yen-Hsun at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
Murray is drawn to face world number 26 Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland in the opening round of the London 2012 tournament at Wimbledon and Hewitt said the Scot would have to be ready to play.
"He got upset pretty early in Beijing which was disappointing for him, so he's got a tough first-round match against Stan Wawrinka. He'll have to be ready from the outset," Hewitt told a press conference here on Friday.
"It's a tough situation playing at home, whether it's the Sydney Olympics for us or the Australian Open so we understand the pressure that he's been under and he's handled himself extremely well.
"It took Roger Federer to play a great match to beat him in the Wimbledon final."
Never-say-die Hewitt again gave no indication when the finish line was approaching in a 15-year career which includes two major titles and the world No 1 ranking.
"There's been speculation (about me) for the past 20 Grand Slams, I think. I have the same question every time," he said.
"It's no different. I think the ultimate professionally in terms of being in the gym, on the practice court, I'm still focused on what I've got to do and once you start getting clouded by other thoughts then you are not going to perform at your best.
"I've gone out there and done everything in my power to get as fit as possible since my (foot) operation in February and for me I'm just grateful that I'm able to play here."
Hewitt takes on Ukraine's Sergiy Stakhovsky in the opening round and could face world No 2 Novak Djokovic if he reaches the third round.
