PUSH FOR HEWITT NAMING HONOUR AT TENNIS CENTRE
SOUTH Australian tennis legend Lleyton Hewitt is likely to have the centre court of the redeveloped Memorial Drive Tennis Centre in Adelaide named in his honour.
As crowds filed past the site for the Ashes Test on Sunday, state Sports Minister Corey Wingard pushed the idea. “Lleyton Hewitt is South Australia’s greatest ever tennis player and it would make perfect sense for the centre court at Memorial Drive Tennis courts to be named after him,’’ he said. “I couldn’t think of a better way to honour him for everything he has done for tennis in our state.”
The overall complex name Memorial Drive Park will reportedly be retained, untouchable as it was in 1921 when it was named in honour of World War I Diggers. It also took its name from the winding avenue – War Memorial Drive – which separates the venue from the River Torrens.
Hewitt is one of the highest achieving of Australia’s modern-era tennis players.
He stunned the world of tennis as a flamboyant and precocious teen, one of the youngest winners of an Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) tournament, when he won the 1998 Next Generation Adelaide International, defeating Jason Stoltenberg in the final, after beating Andre Agassi in the semi-finals.
He was briefly ranked no. 1 in the world in 2001 and is the most recent Australian to win a men’s singles grand slam title.
Stage 1 of the redevelopment cost $11m, mainly for a new venue roof, and was completed in 2019.
Stage 2 will be completed in January 2022, and soon after two events will be held, one from January 2–9 featuring WTA 500 and ATP 250 tournaments, and another from January 9–15, also a WTA 500 and ATP 250 tournament.