Hewitt says Federer's dominance forced him to change

By Simon Cambers

MELBOURNE (Reuters) - Former world number one Lleyton Hewitt said the brilliance of Roger Federer over the past few years has forced him to change his game in a bid to match the Swiss.

The Australian, runner-up in 2005, is bidding to become the first home winner of the men's singles at the Australian Open since Mark Edmondson in 1976.

Under the tutelage of his new coach Tony Roche, the world number 21 has been working on becoming more aggressive in a bid to get back into the top 10 and try to add to his two grand-slam titles.

"The game's always changing," Hewitt told reporters on Sunday.

"Roger Federer's obviously the guy that's taken the game to a new level. You've got to look at little ways of improving your game to be able to match it with the best players.

"And being slightly a bit more aggressive and maybe not so predictable is maybe one way of doing that."

STILL CONSISTENT

Hewitt's former Davis Cup team mate Wayne Arthurs suggested in the Australian press on Sunday that the efforts to become more aggressive may have cost him the consistency that helped him reach the top.