Hewitt carries forlorn home hopes again

SYDNEY, Jan 8 (Reuters) Former world number one Lleyton Hewitt again looks the main hope of providing the Australian Open with a first home singles champion since 1976 but the prospects have rarely looked bleaker.

Hewitt has slipped to 20th in the rankings following a disappointing 2006 and with only one man and two women in the world's top 100, Australia's barren run looks likely to continue.

The 25-year-old Hewitt's preparations for the tournament suffered a major blow when he was forced to pull out of the Sydney International warm-up event with a calf strain just hours after splitting with his coach Roger Rasheed.

Hewitt reached the Australian Open final in 2005, losing in four sets to Marat Safin, but apart from that he has a poor record in the tournament.

The former Wimbledon and US Open champion's run to the showpiece match two years ago was the only time he progressed beyond the fourth round in 10 attempts. He was knocked out in the second round last year by Juan Ignacio Chela of Argentina.

Australia's next highest ranked man is Mark Philippoussis at 112th but the 30-year-old former US Open and Wimbledon runner-up has pulled out of the season's first grand slam event with a knee injury.

Chris Guccione reached his first ATP final at the Adelaide International last weekend. The tall 21-year-old left-hander could spring surprises with his potent serve although he has lost in the first round the last two years.

On the women's side, Samantha Stosur is 27th in the world and Nicole Pratt 72nd but Australia's best prospect could be Alicia Molik.

Molik gave home fans a good run when she reached the Australian Open quarter-finals in 2005 before losing in three sets to American Lindsay Davenport and she rose to eighth in the world rankings soon afterwards.

Molik then suffered an inner ear problem, forcing her to take an extended break from the game and she has plummeted to 165th in the rankings.

The 25-year-old has put those problems behind her, however, beating world number six Nadia Petrova of Russia at last week's Hopman Cup in Perth.

''I am extremely happy with my performances this week... and I feel like I have put in a pretty good effort the last few days,'' Molik said.

''I am raising the bar now and I have quite high expectations of myself these next few weeks.'' REUTERS DKS PM0734