A big up to Lleyton Hewitt, the Australian former world No.1 (from November 2001, to April 2003) and Wimbledon champion in 2002. He may be recovering from a hip operation, his world ranking is 69 after so long excelling in the top 10, he has played only ten tour events this year and is not sure exactly how long he will have left duelling with the best in the game but he has hardly been sitting around waiting for something nice to happen. He is making it happen.

Now 27 years old - is that not difficult to believe? - the four time Queen's Club champion and Bec, his wife, have been touring Australia seeking to raise funds for Cure Our Kids, a charity supporting children with cancer at the Westmead Hospital in New South Wales. The tennis community has rallied around brilliantly, as have those in other sports and from the theatrical family where Bec spent her teenage years.

"Bec and I have been overwhelmed by the generosity shown by many of our friends both here and on the world stage," Hewitt said. "Rafael Nadal donated the racquet he used to win the Wimbledon final, Steffi Graf and Andre Agassi both donated tennis racquets, while Roger Federer gave us the shirt off his own back."

It is exceptionally assuring to hear that people have been so supportive. For those who might like to join in the fun and offer succour to an excellent cause, they should visit www.eswap.com.au where there are around 100 items to bid for. One of the latest additions is a Manchester United shirt that will be signed personally by Wayne Rooney, once someone has offered more than the A$2215 that leads the way with a couple of days left to bid. Rooney, the Net Post is told, will not sign the shirt until he knows the name of the recipient, a particular quirk of the England footballer.

You can purchase two tickets for next year's Wimbledon women's singles final and the Net Post's personal favourite, an opportunity to meet and greet The Wiggles. For those not of an Antipodean bent, The Wiggles are the most popular characters on television Down Under (Andre Agassi used to swear by them to keep his kids entertained during the Australian Open) and are even funnier than Madge and Harold when they were ruling the roost in Ramsay Street.

As for Hewitt himself, he aims to return to the tennis mainstream at the Hopman Cup mixed event in Perth at Christmas, and then intends to play in the Sydney International the week before the Australian Open before competing in his home grand slam for the 13th consecutive year. Good on him.

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It is difficult to know what to make of David Nalbandian, outside of the fact that he is an outstanding player. When he reached the Wimbledon final in 2002, completely out of the blue and in which he was thumped by Hewitt, one remembers being introduced to him on the player's lawn and finding a shy, modest young player bursting with enthusiasm for the task ahead the following day.

His English was passable but he preferred to speak with a translator present which was perfectly understandable. Six years have passed and though he remains friendly and approachable - he always proffers a hand and ask how you are - his performances in official press conferences have left an awful lot to be desired. It has got to the state that officials on the ATP Tour have asked his coach, Martin Jaite, if he might have a word in his ear but to little avail.

Here are a couple of recent exchanges, the first from Wimbledon when he lost in the first round to Frank Danevic of Canada, so verbosity was neither expected nor delivered.

Q: Physically you're fine? Did you feel your preparation was good? A: Well, not a hundred percent, but...

Q. In what way? A: Injuries.