Lleyton Hewitt (born February 24, 1981), is an Australian professional tennis player and the winner of the 2001 US Open and 2002 Wimbledon men's singles titles. Hewitt is known for his fierce competitiveness on the court.
Tennis career
Born in Adelaide, South Australia, Hewitt may well have followed in the footsteps of his Australian rules football-playing father. Instead, he became the youngest winner of an Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) tournament when, as an almost unknown youngster, he won the 1998 Adelaide Invitational, defeating Andre Agassi along the way.
In the next two years he quickly progressed up the world rankings and was world number one for two consecutive years.
Hewitt's first grand slam tournament win was at the US Open in 2001, where he defeated then-four time champion Pete Sampras in straight sets. He followed this with a victory at Wimbledon in 2002, showing the world that though the tournament is dominated by serve-and-volleyers, a baseliner like Hewitt could still perform at the highest level on grass.
He was part of the Australian team which won the Davis Cup in 1999 and 2003, and reached the finals in 2000 and 2001. At the age of 22, he had recorded more wins in Davis Cup singles than any other Australian player.
After his 2002 Wimbledon victory, Hewitt's game and his ATP ranking began to slip as he was engaged in a legal fight with the organization and began playing more Davis Cup matches instead of ATP events. Recently, however, he has reshaped his game and returned to the ATP. In 2004, he became the first man in history to lose in each Grand Slam to the eventual champion. In the Australian Open, he was defeated in the fourth round by Swiss Roger Federer; in the French Open he was defeated by Argentine Gastón Gaudio in the quarterfinals; at Wimbledon, he was defeated by Roger Federer in the quarterfinals; and at the US Open, he was defeated in the finals, again by Roger Federer. Hewitt defeated Andy Roddick to advance to the final of the 2004 Tennis Masters Cup, but was defeated by Roger Federer. Hewitt reached his first Australian Open final in 2005 by defeating World No. 2 Andy Roddick, but was defeated by Marat Safin.
Hewitt's intense demeanour on court and characteristic shouts of "Come On!" when scoring a crucial point have won him detractors as well as fans, however his tennis-playing abilities have earned him a begrudging respect amongst even the most unfavourable of views.
Hewitt dated highly-ranked Belgian tennis player Kim Clijsters. The two announced their engagement just before Christmas 2003, then split in October 2004. His current girlfriend is Australian actress Bec Cartwright. Shortly after losing the final of the 2005 Australian open, Hewitt proposed to her. A date for marriage has not yet been announced.
Awards
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2001 - ATP Player of the Year
- 2001 - Most Popular South Australian
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2002 - ATP Player of the Year
- 2002 - Australia's Male Athlete
- 2002 - Most Popular South Australian
- 2002 - ESPY Best Male Tennis Player
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2003 - Young Australian of the Year
- 2003 - Vogue Australia Sportsman of the Year
- 2003 - Most Popular South Australian
Titles (24)
| Legend |
| Grand Slam (2) |
| ATP Masters Series (2) |
| Tennis Masters Cup (2) |
| ATP Tour (18) |
Performance Timeline
Internal Links
External Links
Last updated: 08-29-2005 23:18:55
