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Reuters 17y

Tennis-Improving Hewitt targets return to top 10

By Simon Cambers

CINCINNATI, Aug 17 - A rejuvenated Lleyton Hewitt
said on Friday he believes he is well on the way to regaining
his place in the world's top 10.

Hewitt was in commanding form as he beat Carlos Moya 6-2
6-4 to reach the semi-finals of the Cincinnati Masters, setting
up a clash with top seed Roger Federer.

Win or lose against Federer, the Australian will move up
from 20 to around the 16 mark when rankings are released on
Monday, giving him a better chance to avoid the big names in
the early rounds of the U.S. Open, which begins on Aug 27.

"I think at my best I'm easily in the top 10," Hewitt, who
last reached the top 10 in June 2006, said.

"I feel like I'm capable of beating nearly anyone on a
given day. I've done it before in big tournaments. A lot of
these guys that are sitting in the top 15 haven't played big
tournaments and grand slam semis and finals before."

Hewitt topped the rankings from November 2001 to June 2003
with only a two-week interruption but over the past few years
his ranking has slipped, mostly because of a succession of
injuries.

He won the title in Las Vegas in February but was not at
100 percent in the Masters Series events in Indian Wells and
Miami the following month.

"I couldn't really play and had to pull out of Miami,"
Hewitt said.

"I spent about a month and a half getting the body right. I
was trying to do a lot of strength work and working on areas
where it's been playing up a little bit in the past. Since Rome
and Hamburg (in May) it's been good."

With very few ranking points to defend before the end of
the year, Hewitt could be back inside the top 10 by the
Australian Open in January.

The Australian said he was not too bothered whether he made
it into the top 16 for the US Open, however.

"The last couple of majors I ran into (Rafael) Nadal and
(Novak) Djokovic in the round of 16," he said.

"Sometimes if you're not seeded you can knock out a lower
seed early on and get a better draw. At the end of the day you
got beat who's put in front of you."

Federer beat Hewitt in Montreal last week and has now won
their past 10 matches.

"Last week, it was probably only his serve that got him out
of trouble when I had break points late in the first set," he
said.

"I probably didn't serve as well as I could have, that was
probably the biggest difference."

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