Hewitt out on his own at Wimbledon

Lleyton Hewitt will feel rather lonely at Wimbledon this year as he will be the only man flying the Australian flag when the grasscourt championships begin today.

The country which dominated Wimbledon from the 1950s until the early 1970s by producing champions such as Lew Hoad, Ashley Cooper, Neale Fraser, Rod Laver, Roy Emerson and John Newcombe is down to one representative in the men's draw for the first time at a grand slam since tennis turned professional in 1968.

According to ITF records, the previous worst showing by the country which has won the Davis Cup 28 times was when there were two Australians at the US Open in 2006, at the All England Club in 2008 and at this year's French Open.

In Paris, Hewitt was joined by teenage prodigy Bernard Tomic. But the 16-year-old's bid to become the youngest man to qualify for Wimbledon since Boris Becker 25 years ago stalled in the final round of qualifying.

While the French and US Opens have reciprocal agreements with Tennis Australia to award at least one of its players a wildcard into the main draw, Wimbledon has opted out of the arrangement. Which has left Hewitt out on his own.

As the only active Australian player to have won singles grand slam titles - at the US Open in 2001 and Wimbledon in 2002 - the former world no.1 will be determined to make his presence felt over the next fortnight.

The 56th-ranked Hewitt, described as the most dangerous floater in the 128-strong field by many of his rivals, will open his account against American Robby Ginepri today. If Hewitt thinks he will feel lost, it is nothing compared to what will be going through Taiwan's Lu Yen-hsun's mind. Lu hails from the most populous continent in the world but is the only Asian in the men's draw.

His stay in London is likely to be very short as his reward for entering the draw is a first-round date with Roger Federer.