Lleyton Hewitt is one of the most famous Australian tennis players of recent times, he was the world no.1 in 2001 & 2002 and was the youngest ever player to achieve this status.
He also won the US open in 2001 and the 2002 Wimbledon Championships. In 2016 Lleyton announced his retirement from the professional game.
As the player comes to terms with his retirement he juggled with multiple roles at this year’s Wimbledon and also mentors the next generation of Aussie tennis stars.
2016 Wimbledon
Hewitt actually donned his White’s after accepting a wildcard to team up with up and coming youngster Jordan Thompson.
This was the second time that he interrupted his retirement since playing at the Australian Open earlier in January. There was also a brief interlude in March when he travelled to America and teamed up with John Peers for the Davis Cup.
Davis Cup
And with his new role as Davis Cup captain, Lleyton is finding himself pretty busy with the responsibilities that come with it.
Hewitt is spending a vast amount of his time coaching the new Australian future champions and is an ever present figure courtside at Grand Slam matches of his young charges. Players such as Bernard Tomic, Nick Kyrgios and John Millman are all benefiting from the “old masters” wisdom.
Lleyton’s Passion
Hewitt is passionate about the sport and in particular Australian tennis, he feels that he has so much experience and energy to pass on to younger players and is determined to do so.
He believes in the potential that is blossoming in Australia and cites two young prospects for the future in Thanasi Kokkinakis and Jordan Thompson.
The BBC & Wimbledon
This year the British Broadcasting Company were once again the main TV company covering all the action from the Wimbledon Championships.
New for 2016, former World No.1 player Lleyton Hewitt joined the BBC’s commentary team reporting on play, he bought unique insight analysis from his wealth of experience.
Prior to accepting his new role, Lleyton Hewitt said, “It’s an honour to join the BBC team this year, I won my second major championship singles title at Wimbledon, and have so many great memories from the tournament, so it’s going to be really exciting to be covering the action!”
Career Statistics
As of January 2016 these are the career statistics for Lleyton Hewitt:
- Year turned pro – 1998
- Career matches won – 616
- Career matches lost – 262
- Current 52 week rank for singles – 306
- Current 52 week rank for doubles – 136
- Highest rank for singles – 1
- Highest rank for doubles – 18
- Career prize money – $20,777,859 USD
- YTD prize money for singles – $45,995 USD
- YTD prize money for doubles – $14,746
It is without doubt that for a period of time Lleyton Hewitt was one of, if not the best players in the world.
It is refreshing to see such a high profile player helping his fellow countrymen develop their games and using all his experience to put as much back into the sport that he loves that he took out.
If you are considering taking up tennis and perhaps personal coaching then if you are in the Sydney area look no further than Tennis World Lance Cove.
