NO matter that Lleyton Hewitt still has difficulties finishing off a point, that he rarely volleys, or that his first serve is not greased-lightning fast, the sheer exuberance and energy of this 18-year-old Australian, winner of two tournaments already this year, make him one of the hottest properties in tennis.
Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi, both in the opposite half of the draw to Hewitt, are doubtless watching his progress through hooded Clint Eastwood eyes, and wondering if this is the blond stranger who will eventually gun down their illustrious careers.
Less than a year ago Spain's Alex Corretja was ranked number two in the world and was the ATP Tour champion. Since then his form has slumped, but few expected to see what happened to him in the second round of the Australian Open against Hewitt. He was simply cut off at the knees, Hewitt winning 6-0, 6-0, 6-1 in not much more time than it takes to say "Barcelona".
"He deserves all of the credit, but I don't want to think about him," said Corretja, who admitted this was the worst match of his life.
Hewitt was relentless. Like Jimmy Connors he is an in-your-face opponent, chasing down every ball and constantly pumping himself up. Sheer adrenalin must run through his arteries.
His vitality is nothing more than that of undistilled youth, though on a men's circuit noted for its treadmill toughness he will surely need to develop certain aspects of his game to buy himself a little breathing space.
This was his 12th successive win, encompassing the titles in Adelaide and in Sydney where he defeated Corretja 6-4, 6-4 in the semi-finals.
"I was happy to get away with an easy passage," said the unseeded Hewitt, who had been pushed hard in his opening match by Paul Goldstein of the US. "But I'm not the type to hold back on anything."
It is a sobering thought that Bjorn Borg won 16 titles as a teenager and Andre Agassi 10. It will be surprising if Hewitt, who will be 19 next month, manages that sort of haul. But he has four under his belt, only one fewer than Connors, John McEnroe and Sampras earned before they turned 20.
Russia's Yevgeny Kafelnikov, the reigning champion, eased into the last 32 with a straight-sets win over his former doubles partner Daniel Vacek of the Czech Republic, but last year's beaten semi-finalists, Ecuador's Nicolas Lapentti, the number seven seed, and Germany's Tommy Haas (10) went out.
Lapentti retired ill during the fourth set against France's Arnaud Clement - "I felt like I had no more energy left" - and Haas was suffering from a rib injury as he lost in straight sets to Morocco's Younes El Aynaoui.
There are only three seeds left in the bottom half of the draw, which is further good news for Hewitt.
Meanwhile, the three-times Wimbledon finalist Goran Ivanisevic said he might quit at the end of the year unless he could pull himself out of the worst slump of his career. Speaking after his 7-6, 64, 6-2 second-round defeat by Spain's Francisco Clavet, the lanky Croatian said he was finding it hard to maintain his motivation.
The disturbing and increasingly bizarre story of Australia's Jelena Dokic took another strange twist yesterday. The 16-year-old, who captured the headlines at Wimbledon last year when, as a qualifier, she knocked out Martina Hingis in the opening round, had just partnered Jennifer Capriati to victory in the first round of the doubles when she called a press conference to accuse the Herald Sun, an Australian newspaper, of making up a story in which she insinuated that tennis draws around the world were being rigged against her.
There was also action on court. The US Open champion Serena Williams, in red dress and shoes, reached the last 32, as did Hingis. But the South African number eight seed Amanda Coetzer made 51 unforced errors, enough for Kristina Brandi to beat her 6-1, 6-3.
