Since then, the tournament had moved several times again: from Frankfurt to Hanover and Lisbon As only the eight top players of the year qualify for the event, the list of its former champions is nothing short of impressive.
At the Masters Cup, the year-end world No 1 spot was at stake. The two players exchanged serves early in the first set, but in the end, Hewitt prevailed, At the last minute, though, the year old felt the pressure of becoming the new world No 1, and it took him no less than six match points before he sealed his victory. Lleyton Hewitt was now sure to become the youngest world No 1 in tennis history at the release of the new rankings, three days later, on November Years later, reflecting on that moment, he would simply comment:.
In the end, the World No 1 was the last of the three. A few days later, Hewitt would start his reign in style by winning the tournament, defeating Grosjean in the final , , The Australian would hold that spot for a total of 80 weeks, including the entire season, triumphing at Wimbledon beating David Nalbandian in the final, , , and at the Masters Cup defeating Juan Carlos Ferrero, , , , , After losing his top spot in , Hewitt would remain a top player for a couple more years, finishing runner-up to Roger Federer at the US Open , , and to Marat Safin at the Australian Open , , , He would leave the top 10 once and for all in early , and, suffering from injuries to his knees, hips, hand, wrist, back and feet, he would never manage to reach the final four of a Grand Slam tournament again.
He would never come back on the tour afterwards and would announce his retirement in Your email address will not be published. I had a slight hip injury coming into the tournament and I was trying to manage that. I was purely playing my matches on adrenaline. I was just riding this wave of emotions with the Australian public. It took an unbelievable effort from Marat to turn that final around [Safin won , , , ].
I was very proud of my achievement. Hewitt's "Fanatics" followed him around the globe, including at his return to New York City in As well he should have been. He suffered a cracked rib in , a back injury in , was hurt in leading to a left hip surgery in , and he endured a right hand injury in The spiral continued with a left foot surgery in , and then toe surgery the following year. He remained dangerous on his best days. Hewitt toppled Federer in the Halle final on grass in , and beat the Swiss again in the Brisbane final of In at the Australian Open—when he was nearly 35—Hewitt played his last official match at the Australian Open, losing to David Ferrer in the second round.
The hip surgeries care out of the blue, but in the end especially, the left one had to be dealt with. And then the major surgery towards the end of my career was my toe. No one knew about it but for probably four or five years I was having injections just to be able to get on the court. He was elected to the International Tennis Hall of Fame as a member of the class of , although he could not make the journey to Newport this past July due to the complications of travel back into Australia related to Covid But he is overjoyed by the honor, and looking forward to returning to Newport next summer.
I always knew how much it meant to be in the Hall of Fame. It is something that makes your whole career so special. To be able to celebrate that with my family and friends at the Hall of Fame induction is the most important part of it. For me to push this back one year is not a big deal. I am really looking forward to Newport next year. Lleyton and his son, Cruz—a notable tennis player himself—at the Australian Open.
He is under the spotlight any time he goes and plays matches. I feel for him in that way, but he loves competing. I know him better than anyone else, but it is good for him to hear from other people and not just Dad. That will be a key for him. He has done sessions with Tony Roche which are just priceless. It is a lot more stressful being either a coach or a parent watching tennis than it is being out there playing in Grand Slam finals.
Even in Davis Cup as captain you play a very small part on the side of the court watching because it is up to them. They have to execute and you have your hands tied in a lot of ways. At Flushing Meadows, Hewitt outlasted former world No. The final was a repeat of the semi-final which Sampras won. In Sydney, Hewitt ended the tournament on an unbeaten run, winning all six of his matches to finish the year ranked as the world's best player.
He won the final against France's Sebastien Grosjean. He held the world No. The following year, in , Hewitt won his second Major, at Wimbledon. Two years later, he also reached the Australian Open final but was stopped by Marat Safin from winning his first Major at his home event.
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