Slumping Hewitt calls on Agassi

SLIDING star Lleyton Hewitt has turned to former great Andre Agassi for advice as he seeks to regain form after a disappointing start to this year's circuit.
The Australian, whose best effort has been a fourth-round appearance at the Australian Open, is in danger of dropping from the seedings for the year's next two Grand Slams, in Paris and at Wimbledon, following another early tournament exit this week.
Hewitt, 27, will drop close to 30 in the rankings after losing in the second round as defending champion of the Las Vegas Open.
But the early loss allowed him the opportunity to seek out Agassi before this month's Masters Series tournaments in Indian Wells and Miami.
"I've always admired how Andre went about his business and again was impressed how he was ready to go from the minute he'd stepped onto the practice court," Hewitt said.
"There was always a purpose for every drill we did and the intensity was amazing.
"It was a great opportunity to not only hit with one of the greatest ever players, but also to discuss a lot of things about my game and how the game of tennis is being played these days.
"One of the biggest advantages of speaking with Andre was finding out a lot of things that he sees through being a player that's just retired.
"He's always been a great thinker out on court and was always able to work out different ways of breaking his opponents down."
It was the first time the pair has hit since Agassi's retirement from the game after the 2006 US Open.
If Hewitt is lacking confidence, the next month will not be easier given the Indian Wells and Miami events are the next tier below Grand Slam tournaments in terms of prizemoney, ranking points and prestige.
The world's top-50 players were entered for Indian Wells when acceptances closed at the end of January.
Despite Hewitt's recent troubles, with this week's loss to Julien Benneteau following a first-round loss to 42nd-ranked Italian Andreas Seppi in Rotterdam a fortnight ago, he is adamant he will return a force.
His partnership with new coach Tony Roche, who piloted Ivan Lendl, Pat Rafter and Roger Federer, is yet to produce a semi-final appearance in five attempts, but the former Wimbledon and US Open champion believes that will soon change.
"While there are many media and others who may be writing me off after the summer, if I review the (tournaments so far), I know that I am not far from returning to my very best and continuing to be a force at Grand Slam level," he wrote on his website blog.
"Rochey explained to me that it is still work in progress and those patches will become longer and more consistent in the months to come, which will hopefully allow me to taste Grand Slam success again