Hewitt prolongs Australian Open swansong

Retiring Australian tennis champion Lleyton Hewitt will mark his final grand slam tournament with a long-form content campaign for Industry Super Funds, letting viewers into his home and talking about life after retirement.

Federer and Hewitt have enjoyed fierce on-court rivalry over the years – especially in the past decade – with the Swiss leading the head-to-head record by 18-9.

Despite some great points played as both fought hard for an advantage, neither were able to find that breakthrough as the set reached a tiebreak after all was even. I’ll look back when my career ends saying that I shared the court with one of the best players ever in his last tournament on a big court.

In his swansong tournament, the 34-year-old played fellow Aussie James Duckworth in the opening round, but his choice of outfit caused plenty of confusion with many commenters on social media.

“Yeah, I give myself a fighting chance”. After winning his first grand slam in 1962, he turned professional, making him ineligible for the amateur only grand slam championships.

“I’ll just try to go out there and put on a good show”.

“This is what I’m going to miss the most, the buzz from the crowd”, he said. He’s been part of the Davis Cup squad on a number of occasions.

“We all want Lleyton to win”, Tomic said.

Next up is No. 8 seed David Ferrer.

“I didn’t think I would be playing for 20 years”, Hewitt reflects. I’m not the tallest or the strongest guy out there, so I’ve had to learn how to counter-punch those bigger guys.

Asked if he think he has another win in him this Open, Hewitt replied with a smile: “I want six more”. Combined, five of these two players’ last eight Aussie Open matches have gone the distance.

“I tried to prepare as much the same as normal and – playing Ducks (Duckworth) as well, who I’ve tried to help out for the last few years – that was really awkward”.

“I wouldn’t say [the match was] comfortable”, Hewitt said.

“It will be up to the likes of Tomic and Kyrgios, among many others, to carry his legacy going forward”, said Van Nguyen. “But I will definitely have a little bit more information closer to the match”.

Verdasco clinched the fourth-set tiebreaker with an ace to send it to a fifth and deciding set, then after an exchange of breaks went ahead with a decisive break in the sixth game and held in the next to go up 5-2. “I have so much respect for his game and the way he goes about it”, said former world number one Hewitt, appearing at his 66th grand slam. The world No. 45 coming from two sets to one down to triumph 7-6 (8-6) 4-6 3-6 7-6 (7-4) 6-2. If I can win in a quicker time, get off the court as soon as I can, that would be a favour to me.