Aussie Hewitt says farewell at home
Last hurrah in second round
MELBOURNE, Australia — There’s a reason why Lleyton Hewitt could keep tennis fans awake until after 4 in the morning, even when he was playing at home, years after winning Grand Slam titles in faraway New York or London.
Hewitt contested every, single point. His relentless intensity and never-give-in attitude had critics bristling when he emerged as a brash, up-and-coming teen. But they later applauded him when he matured and slightly mellowed into a tennis elder.
Hewitt’s 20th bid to win the Australian Open ended in a 6-2, 6-4, 6-4 second-round loss to eighth-seeded David Ferrer on Thursday, his last singles match as a pro. Typically, it was a feisty affair. He launched a verbal volley at chair umpire Pascal Maria after the seventh game of the last set when he was angered by foot-fault calls at one end.
“Left nothing in the locker-room. That’s something I can be proud of,” Hewitt, who turns 35 next month, told the crowd. “My whole career, I’ve given 100 per cent.”
Nobody would argue with that. Before Roger Federer won the first of his record 17 Grand Slam titles, at Wimbledon in 2003, Hewitt had won the 2001 U.S. Open and Wimbledon in 2002. They were roughly the same age. Hewitt was the youngest man to hold the No. 1-ranking, aged 20 years and eight months in November 2001. He held top spot for a total of 80 weeks.
Federer said Hewitt helped revolutionize the sport.
“Yeah, possibly,” Hewitt replied in a matter-of-fact response when Federer’s assessment was mentioned. “I guess guys playing from the back of the court obviously started believing once they saw that I was able to do it, especially on all surfaces.
“It was really kind of the total changing of how tennis was played in a lot of ways, especially on grass.”
The so-called Big Four — Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray — have become dominant, while Hewitt has struggled with hip and foot injuries, and has increasingly reduced his workload to the point where the Grand Slam tournaments and the majors were his only real focus.
Murray, who has won two majors, the Davis Cup and reached four finals at the Australian Open, said he learned a lot about tennis by watching Hewitt
After his 6-0, 6-4, 6-1 secondround win over Sam Groth on Thursday extended his unbeaten streak against Australians to 17, Murray took time to pay tribute to Hewitt.
“He was someone I loved watching growing up. His attitude toward competition — I loved,” Murray said. “He fought, well, fights extremely hard to this day. He still has the same passion to win.
“He was an idol for me — I actually named one of my dogs after him because he was someone that I loved growing up.”