By Richard Pagliaro | @Tennis_Now | Wednesday, October 18, 2024
Lleyton Hewitt will obtain a Hall of Fame homecoming on the Australian Open.
Former world No. 1 Hewitt shall be inducted into the Australian Tennis Hall of Fame on Wednesday, January twenty fourth throughout the second week of the Australian Open.
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The 42-year-old Hewitt will 46 different Aussie tennis greats with a bronze statue on the grounds of Melbourne Park.
It’s the second Hall of Fame honor for the Adelaide, Australia native. Hewitt was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport in 2021.
Wearing his trademark backward baseball cap, the feisty former Aussie Rules soccer participant had a well-earned repute as one of the hard-core rivals of his period. Hewitt captured 30 profession singles titles, together with defeating Pete Sampras to win the 2001 US Open days earlier than 9/11 and beating David Nalbandian to win the 2002 Wimbledon title.
Hewitt additionally partnered Max Mirnyi to assert the 2000 US Open males’s doubles championship, was runner-up to Marat Safin on the 2005 Australian Open and solid memorable rivalries with a number of high gamers of his period, together with Roger Federer, Andy Roddick and Juan Carlos Ferrero.
A passionate Davis Cup competitor, Hewitt and good good friend and fellow Hall of Famer Patrick Rafter helped lead the green-and-gold to the 1999 Davis Cup championship. Hewitt has served as Aussie Davis Cup captain for a number of years, together with guiding the squad to the Davis Cup Finals in Malaga, Spain later this yr.
The Hall of Fame induction doubtless will not be the final tennis followers see of Hewitt. His son, 14-year-old Cruz Hewitt, has gained a number of ITF World Tennis Tour Junior titles.
Photo credit score: Mark Peterson/Corleve
Source: www.tennisnow.com