Russell tears into Hewitt: "Racist" and a "douchebag"

[britbox]

http://www.sportal.com.au/tennis-news-display/russell-hewitt-a-racist-and-a-douchebag-243755

American veteran Michael Russell has launched an astonishing attack on Lleyton Hewitt, labelling the Australian a 'douche bag' and a 'racist' after the final of the Hall of Fame Tennis Championship final on Sunday.

With rain washing out play on Saturday, the semi-finals and final were all played on the same day.

Fourth seed Hewitt defeated two-time defending champion John Isner 5-7 6-2 6-4, while Russell was comprehensively beaten by Frenchman Nicolas Mahut 6-2 6-2.

Hewitt and Mahut returned to the court later in the day to contest the final with the latter coming back from a set and a break down to clinch the title.

"It's disappointing," Hewitt said after his loss to Mahut.

"If I could've had a day off and come back and played the final, I reckon things would've been different. All in all it was a good week.

"Can't do much about it. I had the tougher side of the draw, with the semi-finals this morning, I paid the price for that."

Russell reacted angrily to those comments and took aim at Hewitt.

"Lleyton Hewitt - what a douche bag and a racist by the way too," Russell posted on his Facebook page.

"From ATP website: 'It's disappointing,' said Hewitt. 'If I could've had a day off and come back and played the final, I reckon things would've been different. All in all it was a good week. Can't do much about it. I had the tougher side of the draw, with the semi-finals this morning, I paid the price for that.'

"Really, so serving at 7-5, 5-4 for the Championship all of a sudden you got tired. How about you just choked and stopped making excuses.

"I would have loved to see Mahut/Hewitt on the side court 1 at Newport and see how many excuses Lleyton would have made then," he added, referring to the fact that he and Mahut had played on court 1 as Hewitt and Isner fought out their semi-final on centre court.

Although there was some speculation Russell's account may have been hacked, the fact Russell responded to a comment on the post seems to lend credibility to the fact it was the player making the call.

Russell said: "Chris, you can defend him all you want, however, I have been on tour for 15 years and I know everyone!"

The Facebook page is also linked to Russell's official Twitter account and Russell's wife has 'liked' many of the comments displayed in response to the post.

Russell's accusations of Hewitt being a racist could be in reference to the 2001 US Open when the Australian questioned the integrity of a linesman following his match with American James Blake.

Hewitt has beaten Russell in all three of their clashes, including a three-set victory at Queen's last month.

 

[Kieran]

That's a wild one, isn't it? Let's hope they draw each other in round 1 of the next few tourneys they enter...

 

[kskate2]

Yikes. Russell angry much?

 

[Johnsteinbeck]

woah. intense

let's go on the subject though - in regards to Rusty's comments about the match, i think Russell's quite right, isn't he? it's a douchebag move by Rusty to put down his loss to those circumstances, when Mahut himself also had to play two in a day. and it's not like playing Isner on grass will be long and grueling (when there's a third set tb in place). but i think it just shows that Hewitt deep down still sees himself as a great one, who has no business losing to the likes of Mahut. which, for the athlete/competitor aspect, is probably a good thing. on the personal side, of course, it makes him a douchebag

 

[Ricardo]

That's a wild one, isn't it? Let's hope they draw each other in round 1 of the next few tourneys they enter...

probably makes a good boxing match, Russel is visibly stronger and Hewitt is faster and more tenacious.... should be good :clap

---

woah. intense

let's go on the subject though - in regards to Rusty's comments about the match, i think Russell's quite right, isn't he? it's a douchebag move by Rusty to put down his loss to those circumstances, when Mahut himself also had to play two in a day. and it's not like playing Isner on grass will be long and grueling (when there's a third set tb in place). but i think it just shows that Hewitt deep down still sees himself as a great one, who has no business losing to the likes of Mahut. which, for the athlete/competitor aspect, is probably a good thing. on the personal side, of course, it makes him a douchebag

i think it's normal for many players to talk like 'making excuses' when they just lost an important match, Hewitt is only of the many in the heat of the moment... so unless they are all 'douce bags' he shouldn't be singled out.

 

[ClayDeath]

not cool at all.

 

[Johnsteinbeck]

woah. intense

let's go on the subject though - in regards to Rusty's comments about the match, i think Russell's quite right, isn't he? it's a douchebag move by Rusty to put down his loss to those circumstances, when Mahut himself also had to play two in a day. and it's not like playing Isner on grass will be long and grueling (when there's a third set tb in place). but i think it just shows that Hewitt deep down still sees himself as a great one, who has no business losing to the likes of Mahut. which, for the athlete/competitor aspect, is probably a good thing. on the personal side, of course, it makes him a douchebag

i think it's normal for many players to talk like 'making excuses' when they just lost an important match, Hewitt is only of the many in the heat of the moment... so unless they are all 'douce bags' he shouldn't be singled out.

you got a good point there. however, i can see why Russell might be ticked off here, personally. for sure, what Rusty said is far from the worst of what we've heard by some players.

and just to be clear: i don't usually hold that stuff against any player per se. while i do think that sportsmanship and the way they handle themselves are important, most of all i want to see great competitors. and that doesn't always go along so well with modesty and courtesy.

for completeness' sake: if authentic, this is also horribly unprofessional by Russell.

 

[ClayDeath]

affirmative. iron mike knows better than that.

an apology would repair some of the damage.


Hewitt is a very big name in this world.

I don't think it is a good idea to go after the legends of the sport.

 

[tented]

That's a wild one, isn't it? Let's hope they draw each other in round 1 of the next few tourneys they enter...

:clap

I'm not sure what this says about us, Kieran, but this was my first thought as well.

 

[kskate2]

I don't know how I missed it before, but re-reading it, I believe this rant by Mike is about this issue and this issue only:
"I would have loved to see Mahut/Hewitt on the side court 1 at Newport and see how many excuses Lleyton would have made then," he added, referring to the fact that he and Mahut had played on court 1 as Hewitt and Isner fought out their semi-final on centre court.

It seems he's angry that the rain cancelled play on Sat where both SF would have been contested on CC, but a change in the schedule meant both being played simultaneously on Sun and he got relegated to Court 1.

Really petty to go on a rant like this when it's clear he was unhappy w/ the court assignment. To bring up the race issue from a decade ago doesn't help his cause either. He comes off as whiney brat. If Mahut didn't have a response about Hewitt's comments, it begs the question, why does Mike care?

 

[tented]

It seems he's angry that the rain cancelled play on Sat where both SF would have been contested on CC, but a change in the schedule meant both being played simultaneously on Sun and he got relegated to Court 1.

Really petty to go on a rant like this when it's clear he was unhappy w/ the court assignment. To bring up the race issue from a decade ago doesn't help his cause either. He comes off as whiney brat. If Mahut didn't have a response about Hewitt's comments, it begs the question, why does Mike care?

It's all odd, really. He didn't even play Hewitt the other day. And if anyone should be used to being on side courts, it's Michael Russell. If he's feeling slighted over that, then he must feel slighted every waking hour, of every day.

 

[Johnsteinbeck]

^ well, i do think that the court assignment isn't the only issue.

Hewitt mentioned that he was on the tougher side of the draw - and if you look at it, Rusty had it just as 'easy' as Mahut had... until the semis, when Hewitt had to play Big John Isner, whereas Mahut, on the "easy" side, only had to play Russell. while Mike R probably should realize and accept that he really is not as big an obstacle (obvious pun) as Isner is, i guess he still didn't appreciate Hewitt pointing that out.

 

[kskate2]

It seems he's angry that the rain cancelled play on Sat where both SF would have been contested on CC, but a change in the schedule meant both being played simultaneously on Sun and he got relegated to Court 1.

Really petty to go on a rant like this when it's clear he was unhappy w/ the court assignment. To bring up the race issue from a decade ago doesn't help his cause either. He comes off as whiney brat. If Mahut didn't have a response about Hewitt's comments, it begs the question, why does Mike care?

It's all odd, really. He didn't even play Hewitt the other day. And if anyone should be used to being on side courts, it's Michael Russell. If he's feeling slighted over that, then he must feel slighted every waking hour, of every day.

True, until he finds himself in a SF where he expects to play on the main court. It's probably the only time he would play on CC. Just because he's from the USA, they aren't going to cater to him when they have a grand slam winner and future HOF'r in the draw.

 

[ftan]

He has issued an apology ..saying it wasn't him
http://www.tennis.com/pro-game/2013/07/russell-denies-he-authored-anti-hewitt-comments-facebook/48371/#.UeRwaPnqmSo

 

[Front242]

He has issued an apology ..saying it wasn't him
http://www.tennis.com/pro-game/2013/07/russell-denies-he-authored-anti-hewitt-comments-facebook/48371/#.UeRwaPnqmSo

Easy to do that. Pretty sure it was him. As many stated on that thread, why would an aging low ranked player like Russell have a publicist lol. It was clearly he himself who wrote the comments.

 

[ftan]

He has issued an apology ..saying it wasn't him
http://www.tennis.com/pro-game/2013/07/russell-denies-he-authored-anti-hewitt-comments-facebook/48371/#.UeRwaPnqmSo

Easy to do that. Pretty sure it was him. As many stated on that thread, why would an aging low ranked player like Russell have a publicist lol. It was clearly he himself who wrote the comments.

Yes and why would a publicist go and talk BS about another player

 

[Front242]

He has issued an apology ..saying it wasn't him
http://www.tennis.com/pro-game/2013/07/russell-denies-he-authored-anti-hewitt-comments-facebook/48371/#.UeRwaPnqmSo

Easy to do that. Pretty sure it was him. As many stated on that thread, why would an aging low ranked player like Russell have a publicist lol. It was clearly he himself who wrote the comments.

Yes and why would a publicist go and talk BS about another player

Exactly. He's made it worse by issuing a feeble scapegoat excuse. Hewitt is probably lashing his punchbag now: "I'll show him, Beth. Fair dinkum, mate!"

 

[huntingyou]

dudes under the bridge have publicists in today's world

pretty funny though

 

[Mastoor]

He has issued an apology ..saying it wasn't him
http://www.tennis.com/pro-game/2013/07/russell-denies-he-authored-anti-hewitt-comments-facebook/48371/#.UeRwaPnqmSo

We all post after a beer or five, don't we?

 

[Johnsteinbeck]

publicist = little brother?

also, does tennis.com or the AP really need to censor "douchebag"?