Lleyton Hewitt

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Lleyton Hewitt bigraphy, stories - Australian tennis player

Lleyton Hewitt : biography

24 February 1981 –

Lleyton Glynn Hewitt (See . born 24 February 1981) is an Australian professional tennis player and former World No. 1.

Hewitt is the youngest male ever to be ranked number one in the world, at the age of 20. His most notable career achievements include winning the 2001 US Open and 2002 Wimbledon men’s singles titles, the 2000 US Open men’s doubles title, and back-to-back Tennis Masters Cup (now called the ATP World Tour Finals) titles in 2001 and 2002.

Equipment

Hewitt is currently sponsored by the Japanese sports manufacturer Yonex, with whom he signed a "Head to Toe" deal in late 2005, after being sponsored by Nike. Yonex provides Hewitt’s clothing, racquets, shoes and accessories. Hewitt’s Yonex shoes (SHT-306) are inscribed with his nickname "Rusty" along with an image of an Australian flag. As of 7 August 2007, his first appearance with a new racquet at the Montreal Masters, Hewitt used to use the Yonex RQiS 1 Tour. He used to use the Yonex RDS tour 90 Model, but switched to the Yonex RDiS 100 mid in 2009. In 2011, he switched to Yonex VCORE 95 D, using a grip size of 4 3/8 (L3). Since mid-2011, he began alternating between Yonex, Nike, Adidas, Asics and Fila shoes. A little before Roland Garros 2012, Hewitt signed a sponsorship deal with Australian company Inferno Sports, who provides him shirts and caps for his matches. Sometimes Hewitt also uses Oakley shirts and sunglasses too.

Rivalries

Hewitt vs Federer

Hewitt and Roger Federer have played each other on 26 occasions. Early in their careers, Hewitt dominated Federer, winning seven of their first nine meetings, including a victory from two sets down in the 2003 Davis Cup semifinal which allowed Australia to defeat Switzerland. However, from 2004 onward, Federer has dominated the rivalry, winning 16 of the last 17 meetings to emerge with an 18–8 overall head-to-head record. This is Hewitt’s longest rivalry as these two first played each other as juniors in 1996. They have met in one Grand Slam final, the 2004 US Open final, where Federer won his first US Open title. Federer has met Hewitt in six of the Grand Slams that he went on to win. Their most recent meeting was won by Hewitt, where the two met in the final of Halle in 2010.

Hewitt vs Roddick

Hewitt’s second longest rivalry was against American Andy Roddick in which the two have played on 14 occasions. Early in the rivalry Hewitt dominated the rivalry with six wins from their first seven meetings. One of those wins included a five set victory at the 2001 US Open, the tournament in which Hewitt captured his first Grand Slam title. In later years Roddick began to dominate Hewitt, with the rivalry finishing at 7 wins each upon Roddick’s retirement.

Hewitt vs Nalbandian

A rivalry between Hewitt and Argentinian tennis players is believed to have begun at the 2002 Wimbledon final where Hewitt defeated Argentina’s David Nalbandian in straight sets. The rivalry would hit boiling point in 2005 over a series of matches spread between the 2005 Australian Open and the 2005 Davis Cup Quarterfinals between Australia and Argentina. In the third round of 2005 Australian Open Hewitt faced Argentinian Juan Ignacio Chela in which Chela spat at Hewitt during a change of ends. Hewitt would then face David Nalbandian in the quarterfinals with Hewitt coming out victorious 10–8 in the fifth set. Later in 2005 Hewitt would face Guillermo Coria in the Davis Cup quarterfinals and Coria was alleged to be grabbing his crotch as well as purposely hitting Hewitt with a ball when given the chance. The rivalry would die down the following year in the 2006 Davis Cup semifinals where Argentina came out victorious 5–0 over Hewitt and the Australians.

Career statistics

Singles performance timeline

Tournament 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 SR W–L
Grand Slam Tournaments
Australian Open 1R 1R 2R 4R 3R 1R 4R 4R F 2R 3R 4R 1R 4R 1R 4R 1R 0 / 17 30–17
French Open A LQ 1R 4R QF 4R 3R QF A 4R 4R 3R 3R 3R A 1R 1R 0 / 13 28–13
Wimbledon A LQ 3R 1R 4R W 1R QF SF QF 4R 4R QF 4R 2R 1R 2R 1 / 14 39–13
US Open A LQ 3R SF W SF QF F SF QF 2R A 3R 1R A 3R 1 / 12 43–11
Win–Loss 0–1 0–1 5–4 11–4 16–3 15–3 9–4 17–4 16–3 12–4 9–4 8–3 8–4 8–4 1–2 5–4 0–2 2 / 56 140–54
Year-End Championship
ATP World Tour Finals Did Not Qualify RR W W DNQ F A Did Not Qualify 2 / 4 13–5