Lleyton Hewitt

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Lleyton Hewitt : biography

24 February 1981 –

Juniors

As a junior Hewitt posted a 44–19 record in singles and reached as high as No. 17 in the world in 1997 (and No. 13 in doubles).

Junior Grand Slam results

Tournament 1996 1997 W–L
Junior Grand Slam Tournaments
Australian Open 2R QF 4–2
French Open A 3R 2–1
Wimbledon A 3R 2–1
US Open A 3R 2–1
Win–Loss 1–1 9–4 10–5

Junior singles titles (1)

Legend (Singles)
Grand Slam (0)
Grade A (0)
Grade B (0)
Grade 1–5 (1)
No. Date Tournament Surface Opponent Score
1. 8 April 1997 Manila, Philippines Hard RSA}} Wesley Whitehouse 6–4 6–3

2000

In 2000, Hewitt reached his first Grand Slam final at the Wimbledon mixed doubles partnering Belgian Kim Clijsters, his then girlfriend. They lost the match, to Americans Kimberly Po and Donald Johnson. Hewitt later won his first Grand Slam title at the US Open when he along with Max Mirnyi claimed the men’s doubles championship; thus becoming the youngest male (at 19 years, 6 months) to win a Grand Slam doubles crown in the open era. At the end of the year, Hewitt became the first teenager in ATP history to qualify for the year-end Tennis Masters Cup (ATP World Tour Finals).

2001

Hewitt started off the 2001 season well by winning the Medibank International in Sydney, and went on to win tournaments in London (Queen’s Club) and ‘s-Hertogenbosch. He captured his first Grand Slam singles title at the US Open in 2001, when he beat former world no. 1 Yevgeny Kafelnikov in the semifinals and defeated then-four-time champion Pete Sampras the next day in straight sets. This win made Hewitt the only active ATP player to win a Grand Slam singles and doubles title during his career. Hewitt is still the last player to achieve this feat. The Australian went on to win the Tokyo Open and again qualify for the year-end Tennis Masters Cup held in Sydney. During the tournament, Hewitt won all matches in his group, before defeating Sébastien Grosjean in the finals to take the title and gain the world no. 1 ranking.

Hewitt won a total of six titles in 2001.

2002

The year 2002 was once again a solid year for Hewitt, winning three titles in San Jose, Indian Wells and London (Queen’s Club). He followed his 2001 US Open win by capturing the Wimbledon singles title, dominating first-time finalist David Nalbandian in straight sets; Hewitt lost only two sets throughout the championship. His victory reinforced the idea that, although the tournament had tended to be dominated by serve-and-volleyers, a baseliner could still triumph on grass (Hewitt was the first ‘baseliner’ to win the tournament since Agassi in 1992). Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer, who are also baseliners, won all titles between them from 2003 to 2010, with Novak Djokovic, also a baseliner, winning the tournament in 2011.

For his third straight year, He qualified for the year-end Tennis Masters Cup held in Shanghai and successfully defended his title by defeating Juan Carlos Ferrero in the final. Hewitt’s win helped him finish the year as world no. 1 for a second straight year.

2003

In 2003 Hewitt defeated former world no. 1 Gustavo Kuerten for the championship at Indian Wells. But at Wimbledon, as the defending champion, Hewitt lost in the first round to qualifier Ivo Karlović. Hewitt became the first defending Wimbledon men’s champion in the open era to lose in the first round. Only once before in the tournament’s 126-year history had a defending men’s champion lost in the opening round, in 1967, when Manuel Santana was beaten by Charlie Pasarell. Hewitt was only the third defending Grand Slam champion in the open era to lose in the first round, after Boris Becker at the 1997 Australian Open and Patrick Rafter at the 1999 US Open. After Wimbledon in 2003, Hewitt lost in the final of the tournament in Los Angeles, the second round of the ATP Masters Series tournament in Montreal, and the first round of the ATP Masters Series tournament in Cincinnati. At the US Open, Hewitt lost in the quarterfinals to Juan Carlos Ferrero. Hewitt played only Davis Cup matches for the remainder of the year, recording five-set wins over Roger Federer and Juan Carlos Ferrero in the semifinals and final respectively, as Australia went on to win the Davis Cup. Hewitt used much of his spare time in late 2003 to bulk up, gaining 7 kg.