Lleyton Hewitt’s dream farewell at next year’s Australian Open will draw the curtain on one of the great modern-day tennis careers.
If all goes to script, after Hewitt’s confirmation on Thursday that a limited playing schedule in 2015 will be his last season on tour before taking over Australia’s Davis Cup captaincy, he will bow out after a record 20th consecutive Open campaign at Melbourne Park.
The former world No.1’s looming retirement will end a storied 19-year professional career.
While he polarised fans early on, Hewitt will finish as one of Australia’s greatest-ever players.
In 2001, after beating 14-times major winner Pete Sampras in the US Open final to secure his maiden grand slam title, he became – at 20 years and eight months – the youngest men’s world No.1 in professional tennis history.
In doing so, Hewitt joined John Newcombe and Pat Rafter as the only Australians to have scaled the summit since rankings were established in 1973.
He captured his second – and last – grand slam title the following year with victory over Argentine David Nalbandian in the Wimbledon final.
All up, Hewitt spent 80 weeks as world No.1 between November 2001 and his last stint atop the rankings in June 2003.
Hewitt reached two other grand slam deciders, losing to Roger Federer in New York in 2004 and to Marat Safin in the 2005 Australian Open final.
He also made four more other semi-finals and six quarter-finals during a 63-slam career which began way back in 1997 when, at just 15 years and 11 months, the South Australian became the youngest-ever player to qualify for the Australian Open men’s singles draw.
The following year, two months shy of his 17th birthday, Hewitt stunned Agassi en route to his maiden ATP singles title in his home town of Adelaide to become the youngest tour winner since Michael Chang in 1988 and the lowest-ranked – at No.550 in the world – in history.
Hewitt also won two season-ending championships in 2001 and 2002 and lost a third final to Federer in 2004.
The father of three collected 30 ATP singles titles in all, including two last year when he turned the tables on Federer, his career-long friend and rival, in Brisbane and then reigned at Newport in July.
Hewitt lived for the grand slams and Davis Cup and helped Australia win the prestigious teams’ competition twice – as a teenager in 1999 and again in 2003.
Australia made four finals in five years at the height of Hewitt’s career and he retires as the country’s most prolific singles winner in Davis Cup history.
Australia’s longest-serving Australian player, the 16-year stalwart has compiled a 41-14 win-loss record in Davis Cup singles and is 56-18 overall, also the most wins in total by anyone from the 28-times champion nation.
After helping Australia regain – and retain – its status in the World Group after six years in the Davis Cup wilderness, Hewitt will have one final crack at glory in 2015.
When he takes over from interim captain Wally Masur, Hewitt will be only the seventh man in the past 65 years to lead Australia’s Cup team.
He will follow Masur, Pat Rafter (2010-2014), John Fitzgerald (2001-2010), John Newcombe (1995-2000), Neale Fraser (1970-1994) and the legendary Harry Hopman (1950-69).
