Lleyton Hewitt Profile

Australia grand slam hopes are shouldered by Lleyton Hewitt. The two-times Grand Slam winner is yet to lift the Norman Brookes Trophy, but is showing signs of returning to his best form after struggling with a hip injury.

Australian player Lleyton Hewitt eyes the ball as he prepares a forehand shot to Spanish player Rafael Nadal during their French Tennis Open fourth round match In 2001, at the age of 21, Lleyton Hewitt became the youngest male at the time to have secured the World no.1 ranking. He achieved this feat by claiming his first Grand Slam title on the courts of Flushing Meadows. Hewitt caused a sensation by defeating world number one Pete Sampras in straight sets in the final.

In 2002 Hewitt secured the Wimbledon title by defeating David Nalbandian in the final. Hewitt's career would soon go into steep decline as he set a number of records for poor performances. At Wimbledon 2003 he became the first defending men's champion to lose in the first round, thereby becoming the first grand slam defending champion to lose in the first round of a grand slam tournament.

His bad run of luck followed him into 2004. The Australian set another unenviable record and became the first man in history to lose each of the four Grand Slam finals to the eventual champion:

  • At the Australian Open  Hewitt was defeated by Swiss master, Roger Federer in the fourth round
  • At the French Open he lost to Gaston Gaudio in the quarterfinals
  • At Wimbledon he was outgunned by Federer yet again
  • At the US Open final, Lleyton Hewitt was left gasping for breath when Roger Federer beat him in three sets. He lost two of the sets at love.

Hewitt's best showing at the Australian Open was in 2005 when he beat world no.2, Andy Roddick and made it to the final. Sadly Russian Marat Safin crushed his dream of winning his backyard Grand Slam.

Seeded 19th at the 2008 Australian Open, Hewitt lost out to the eventual winner Novak Djokovic 7–5, 6–3, 6–3. After badly injuring his hip and aggravating the injury again at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Hewitt was forced to take the rest of the season off to undergo hip surgery.

 

 

Lleyton Hewitt, Australian Open men's tennis player, has conquered some of the big names in tennis, but his form going into 2009 will have to be greatly improved if he is to be taken seriously.