Lleyton Hewitt
Lleyton Hewitt has the distinction to be the youngest player to ever
become world number one. Hailing from Australia, his accomplishments
include winning the 2001 US Open title and the 2002 Wimbledon title. He
is currently ranked number 28.
He is born in February 24, 1981 in Australia. When not busy in the
courts, he spends his time watching Australian Rules football. He is
married to Australian actress Bec Cartwright and is currently expecting
their second child. He is currently endorsing several products. A
virtual unknown, he won the 1998 Next Generation Adelaide International,
beating Andre Agassi in the semifinals. That win made him the third
youngest player to win an ATP title. In 2000 he won his first Grand Slam
title when he partnered with Max Mirnyi and won the doubles title at the
US Open. His first singles title came in the 2001 US Open when he
defeated Pete Sampras in the finals. He also became the first baseliner
since Andre Agassi to win in the Wimbledon Championships.
He gained infamy of being the only defending champion to lose in the
first round of the Wimbledon Championships when he was upset by Ivo
Karlovic in 2003. He didn’t win any title during that year. 2004 is also
an unlucky year for Hewitt. He gained the distinction of being the loser
to eventual champions in all Grand Slam Events.
At the 2007 Australian Open, Lleyton Hewitt bowed to the eventual runner
up Fernando Gonzalez in the third round. He won an ATP event in Las
Vegas in March. He holds the record of winning at least one ATP title
for ten straight years. He was defeated by Rafael Nadal in the
semifinals of the Hamburg Masters. This result is repeated in the fourth
round of the French Open. He was ousted in the fourth round of the
Wimbledon Championships by Novak Dokovic.
After Wimbledon, Hewitt announced that he hired Tony Roche to be his
coach. Then he faced Roger Federer in two Masters Tournaments, Montreal
and Cincinnati. He lost both matches. He was seeded 16 coming to the US
Open but was defeated in the second round by Agustin Calleri.
In the third round of the 2008 Australian Open, he faced Marcos
Baghdatis in a grueling 282 minute match in which he had won. The match
started at 11:52 pm and came to an end at 4:34 am the next day. He lost
the next match to the eventual title winner Novak Dokovic in straight
sets.
He injured his hips in March that made him miss the semifinals of the
Hamburg Masters and several other tournaments that could prepare him for
the French Open. He also lost 300 ranking points because of the injury.
Despite the injury, he managed to reach the third round of the French
Open. He has also competed in the Queens Club Championship where he got
to the quarterfinals. He was ousted by Roger Federer in the fourth round
of the Wimbledon Championships. Hopefully his hip injury heals
completely for him to get back to 100%.
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