Hewitt retires post gutsy loss to Ferrer in Oz Open

Lleyton Hewitt, once the best in the world, bows out at age 34 before a crowd in his homeland.

“[Fatherhood] is the greatest gift of life”.

And Hewitt’s career came to an end after 20 years.

But the unsavory subject of match-fixing surfaced and Hewitt was asked about his name being on the list published by the online blog near the end of his extended briefing with reporters.

“But he learned a lot from those mistakes”.

Roger Federer, one of the greatest to have played the game, recalled that Hewitt was an “unbelievable teenager” and credited the Australian with helping his own career.

Misty rain has briefly delayed the start of play on outdoor courts at the Australian Open.

A year earlier he had labeled the Australian public as “stupid” after being jeered during a tournament in his hometown of Adelaide.

While playing James Blake at the U.S. Open in 2001, he made a comment interpreted by some as racist during an on-court tirade. Like Novak Djokovic on Wednesday, Hewitt said it was “absurd” to be linked with the saga. “I was getting goose bumps out here tonight”.

“I gave it 100% on the training track and on the matches as well, and I really brought that into my tennis”. It was actually good that we had to wait a little bit because I was really shaking, because I could imagine and it was not so nice.

“He had the shorts over his knees, the Prince racquets – he had about eight racquets in his bag”. And his tennis mind separated him from a lot of players because you could go through a lot of matches that he played and very rarely would he hit the wrong shot.

“Congrats on an fantastic career LLeyton Hewitt!”.

Hewitt is known as one of the most tenacious fighters in the sport. “I feel fortunate to finish here”.

Emotion boiled over in the final set when, with the match ebbing away, Hewitt was given an audible obscenity warning before he clashed with the chair umpire, calling him a “frigging idiot”. He won a heap of titles.

“Lleyton wasn’t scared of playing the top players in the world”, Cahill says.

“He was never like that”. He remains the youngest player to have reached the No. 1 spot – which he did in 2001 aged 20 years and 8 months.

“I’m just happy, it’s only the second round, I need to rest and be ready for the next one”. “My return put pressure on him, I passed and lobbed well, that’s what I needed to get the win”, Murray said.

Hewitt’s last competitive singles match had it all as he deservedly bowed out a champion in front of his home fans.

Hewitt, ranking 308 in the ATP, participated in this year’s edition of the Australian Open thanks to a wild-card offered by the organizers. He will be well suited to the role of Australian Davis Cup captain and if he can instill the same approach and beliefs into the likes of Nick Kyrgios and Bernard Tomic Australia will be a force to be reckoned with.

Hewitt, who planned to retire after this year’s Aussie Open tournament, is officially out after losing his last match to David Ferrer.

It is a fact which Cahill believes will define Hewitt’s legacy.

Standing on the court with Bruce McAvaney, Lleyton was clearly moved. He was a magnificent Davis Cup warrior who delivered the trophy to Australia twice, in 1999 and 2003. It’s the third time in four years the two have met in Melbourne, and the Scotsman has won both previous encounters in straight sets. It took the Aussie No. 3 43 long minutes to win a game.

“Tennis is going to miss you”. Take me on with it. Yeah, it’s disappointing.

“I still have to sort of pinch myself now”.