LLEYTON Hewitt is Australia’s Tim Henman.

For years, Englishman Henman faced the pressure of trying to break his home country’s drought at Wimbledon.

“Can Tim win this year?” was the question the English media, and Henman’s huge support base, would ask each time he fronted up at The Championships, and although he would come close several times, including four semi-final defeats, Henman ended his career in 2007 without a Wimbledon title.

Although he’s only 26, you feel that time is running out for Hewitt at his home grand slam.

“Little Lleyton” still talks a good game.

Yesterday he said all he needed was a little bit of luck and once he made it through the first week of the Australian Open starting today, his chances of winning would be the equal of anyone.

The evidence from Grand Slams of the past five years, and Hewitt’s start to 2008, would suggest otherwise.

Now ranked 22 in the world, Hewitt will do very well to make it through to the last 16 at the famous Melbourne Park.

He’s won only three ATP singles titles in the last three years and his last Grand Slam victory was Wimbledon in 2002.

Last year, he didn’t make to the quarter-finals in any of the four majors and his record in the Australian Open is poor.

The ’05 event, when he made it through to the final before losing to Marat Safin in four sets, is clearly his best result in 12 attempts.

He hasn’t made it past the round of 16 in any other Open.

Where Hewitt differs from Henman is that while the Englishman always appeared to have the whole country behind him at Wimbledon, Australia’s No.1 doesn’t engender the same support.

His fighting spirit is admired but his sometimes abrasive, often complaining, attitude, and some poor displays when he is losing or has lost, means he will never have the passionate homeland backing that Pat Rafter enjoyed.

When Rafter was beaten at the Open, Australian tennis fans would enter something resembling mourning.

A Hewitt loss isn’t met with such widespread disappointment.

Unfortunately, at this year’s Open it will be “when will Lleyton lose” not “will Lleyton lose”.

A second-round loss to world No.125 Chris Guccione in Sydney last week, coming after a quarter-final defeat against Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the season opener in Adelaide is not the sort of form to inspire any thoughts that Hewitt will be the first Aussie male since 1976 to win the Open when the final comes around on Sunday week.