Lleyton Hewitt

Lleyton Hewitt (born February 24, 1981, Adelaide, Australia), is a former World No.1 professional tennis player from Australia 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. Hewitt wins most of his matches with his superior fitness and powerful shots including a serve much improved in 2004-5. Hewitt spent much time in the late stages of 2004 working with his coach Roger Rasheed on bulking up his physique. His hard work paid off after he made it to the final of the 2005 Australian Open before falling to Marat Safin.

Tennis career

Born in Adelaide,South Australia, Hewitt might well have followed in the footsteps of his Australian rules football-playing father. Instead, he became one of the youngest winners of an Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) tournament when, as an almost unknown youngster, he won the 1998 Adelaide Invitational, defeating Andre Agassi in the semifinals. Only Aaron Krickstein winning Tel Aviv in 1983 and Michael Chang winning San Francisco in 1988 were younger when claiming their first ATP title.

Related Topics:
Adelaide - South Australia - Australian rules football - Association of Tennis Professionals - 1998 - Andre Agassi - Aaron Krickstein - Tel Aviv - 1983 - Michael Chang - San Francisco - 1988

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Over the next two years Hewitt quickly progressed up the world rankings, and this culminated in his being ranked the world number one for two consecutive years.

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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 had tended to be dominated by serve-and-volleyers, a baseliner like Hewitt could still triumph on grass.

Related Topics:
Tournament - 2001 - Pete Sampras - Wimbledon - 2002 - Serve-and-volley - Baseliner

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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.

Related Topics:
Davis Cup - 1999 - 2003 - 2000 - 2001

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After his 2002 Wimbledon victory, Hewitt's game and his ATP ranking began to slip as he became engaged in a legal fight with the ATP and began focusing more on Davis Cup matches than on ATP events. Recently, however, he has reshaped his game and returned his attention to the ATP tour.

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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 defending champion Roger Federer.

Related Topics:
2004 - Australian Open - Swiss - Roger Federer - French Open - Argentine - Gastón Gaudio - US Open - Andy Roddick - Tennis Masters Cup

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In 2005, Hewitt reached his first Australian Open final by defeating World No. 2 Andy Roddick, but was defeated by Marat Safin. At Wimbledon he lost to Federer in the semifinal. Federer went on the win the event for the third time. Almost two months later he again lost to Federer in the semifinal, this time he was able the take one set from the Swiss. Hewitt had at this point lost to the eventual champion at seven consecutive Grand Slams (he missed the 2005 French Open because of injury).

Related Topics:
2005 - Australian Open - Andy Roddick - Marat Safin

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Hewitt's intense demeanour on court and characteristic shouts of "Come On!" when winning a crucial point have won him detractors as well as fans. However, his tennis-playing abilities and on-court fighting spirit have earned him a begrudging respect amongst even the most sceptical followers of the game. In 2005 he was fined an undisclosed amount by the ITF following Australia's Davis Cup match against Argentina.

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Hewitt for some years dated highly-ranked Belgian tennis player Kim Clijsters. The two announced their engagement just before Christmas 2003, then split in October 2004. Shortly after losing the final of the 2005 Australian open, Hewitt proposed to Australian actress Bec Cartwright, after they had been dating for just six weeks. On 5 May 2005 Lleyton and Bec announced that they were expecting their first child; the baby is due to be born in October. They married on July 21 2005 at the Sydney Opera House, followed by a reception at Taronga Zoo.

Related Topics:
Belgian - Kim Clijsters - Bec Cartwright - 5 May - 2005 - July 21 - Sydney Opera House - Taronga Zoo

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Hewitt has joined Japanese sportswear, Yonex.

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