Belarus at Australia

Injuries and family interests have diverted some of the focus of the Aussies, with Hewitt and Arthurs welcoming new additions to their families of late.

Hewitt has slid out of the Top 10 in 2006 and has not won a title in over a year. A local Reuters writer pegged the Aussies as "overwhelming favorites," but on paper the Aussie squad is less than overwhelming, with Hewitt struggling and the Australian squad lacking a top-tier No. 2 singles player.

"The top guys still have to play pretty hard to beat me and if I keep putting myself in that situation, if I keep practicing hard, hopefully the tide will turn," an optimistic Hewitt told reporters on Tuesday. "Every tie I go into I plan on winning and there haven't been too many that I've disappointed so far, so I'm looking forward to the challenge again."
FOLDHERE
Aussie captain John Fitzgerald sounded wary speaking with reporters.

"I'm not sure if you can pick favorites, I think it's a fine line sometimes," Fitzgerald said. "This is a tight match and I think Belarus obviously punch a lot higher than their weight in Davis Cup competition."

One player often delivering shocking knock-out blows is Belarus' Vladimir "The Vladiator" Voltchkov, the one-time Wimbledon semifinalist who these days plays mostly Challenger- and Futures-level events to stay sharp for Davis Cup play. The No. 457-ranked Voltchkov will back up compatriot Max "The Beast" Mirnyi, who enters Melbourne on a winning wave after capturing the Miami doubles title with Swedish partner Jonas Bjorkman.

An anomaly in Davis Cup play at the World Group level, Voltchkov arrived in Melbourne straight from a Futures event in South Korea.

"Voltchkov on day one is not going to be an easy task," Hewitt, who has never faced The Vladiator, told reporters. "He's got a great Davis Cup record for a guy who hasn't played a whole heap of tournaments. I haven't seen him play for a few years now. But he is a great ball striker and he was one of the top juniors a couple of years before me. He made the semifinals at Wimbledon that year and I saw a lot of tennis then. When he's playing well he hits the ball extremely hard from the back of the court and very cleanly."

Hewitt has faced The Beast plenty of times, and Mirnyi is familiar with all the ins and outs of the Aussie's game as the two used to be doubles partners, winning the 2000 US Open.

Hewitt holds a 3-2 career edge over Minyi, winning their two most recent meetings in 2005, both tightly-contested three-setters.

The Aussies were also seen as the favorites in two high-profile home losses in each of the last two years: last year when the Argentines beat them on their own grasscourts, and in 2004 when they were upset by a not-particularly-strong Swedish squad.

The Aussie squad's lack of punch these days is not lost on Voltchkov, who sees Hewitt as quite beatable.

"Lleyton doesn't have anything really that big to hurt you, so you always have a chance," Voltchkov told ABC Sports. "It's just a matter of execution, how well you (are) going to be hitting those winners and coming in and finishing off the point."