The Sound Of Silence

The 16th of September, 2012, Hamburg, Germany. With the German and Australian teams tied at 2-2, Lleyton Hewitt would have the chance to clinch Australia's return to the elite World Group in the Davis Cup.

It was a chance that Lleyton had agonizingly let slip a year earlier against Switzerland's Stan Wawrinka in a deciding rubber in Sydney on Rusty's beloved grass. Against Wawrinka, Hewitt was struggling to move by the end of the fourth set, his debilitating toe injury (the cartilage had been completely worn away around one of the toes in the left foot, meaning that every step was painful. A doctor would later say he was surprised that Hewitt was walking around normally, let alone playing tennis) looked to have crippled him. The pain killing injections were no use any more and Hewitt quite literally limped first to defeat on the fourth day of the tie, after the match had been postponed early in the fifth set on day 3 due to the growing darkness of a Sydney spring evening, and then limped to the locker room after 4 consecutive days of tennis that featured 4 sets against Roger Federer, the first two being extremely hard fought before the Swiss icon pulled away, 4 further sets of doubles with Chris Guccione trumping Federer and Wawrinka and then 5 more sets against Wawrinka.

In the locker room, Hewitt broke into tears due to a loss for only the second time in his career, according to the South Australian himself (the other apparently being after his Australian Open final defeat to Marat Safin).
He had been so close to pulling it off. Up 2 sets to 1, he was a set away from winning the playoff. The man who puts representing his country above all else was close to leading them back to their seat at the top table in tennis.. but after starting the day running on fumes, the finish line was never really within his grasp, with Wawrinka too good of a player to hand over the victory and Hewitt too encumbered to take it from him.

But after the Australian Open of 2012 where Hewitt fought his way to the fourth round and a 4 set defeat to world number 1 Novak Djokovic and then a Davis Cup victory over China, Hewitt underwent surgery in February that could either end his career, or resurrect it. After fusing his irreparably damaged toe and inserting some nuts and bolts, Hewitt came back and by the middle of July he seemed to have rediscovered his feet and his game. To my mind, this tie against Germany was to complete the comeback, to lay to rest the ghosts of the Wawrinka defeat and cement both Hewitt's and Australia's return to the top. Whether Lleyton saw it that way or not is another matter. Most likely, the only guarantee he made to himself or captain Pat Rafter was that he'd give it his all, as always in the green and gold.

Day 1 of the tie against Germany saw Hewitt disappoint against Florian Mayer in only his second match on clay in nearly a year-and-a-half, but a 6-3 6-2 2-6 7-6(4) victory with Chris Guccione over Benjamin Becker and Phillip Petzschner had Hewitt bouncing about. Australia were leading 2-1 and the supporters believed. Day 3 began and Florian Mayer dispatched Bernard Tomic even more comfortably than he had Hewitt on day 1. So it came down to Hewitt to get the job done against Cedrik-Marcel Stebe, a man that he had beaten while injured but inspired in January and who Tomic had beaten in 4 sets on day 1, despite the young Australian's inexperience on the surface.

Surely, this was Hewitt's time to shine. Given that it was the third consecutive day of action, I was aware when I settled down to watch the match via an internet stream that Rusty's body would surely be tired, but it had to be miles better than the previous year against Wawrinka, a much more accomplished player than the talented young German. Though Lleyton's performance on day 1 was far from vintage, he had looked a man inspired by the time the doubles rubber came to an end. It seemed, to me at least, that the script was written for Hewitt to battle to another famous away victory in the Davis Cup - perhaps a four or five set thriller as Hewitt worked his way into the match and continued to reacquaint himself with a surface he had barely set foot on in the previous two years. I was bouncing about the house, propelled by excitement and the butterflies in my stomach.

The match began, and my heart raced. Hewitt picked up where he had left off on day 1. Struggling to find his range and his movement and the first set ebbed to Stebe, 6-4. Though the arena was not the cauldron of noise associated with Davis Cup, as the tie in Hamburg was poorly attended, it was now time. Time for the man who had earned the right to be called a champion to reach inside and find something, to go up a gear, to burst out in flame and furious tennis as he often had with his back against the wall.. but there was no roaring flame, just a frustrated flicker from a man who was visibly disappointed at not being able to impose himself on a match that began slipping away from him fast. Balls you hoped he would retrieve seemed out of reach, his shots lacked penetration and often the ball off of Hewitt's racket found the net or sailed long as he looked to change the course of action. There was no crispness to be found as Stebe cantered through the second set 6-1 and reality hit home.
Though Hewitt would no doubt not give up and had retrieved many a lost cause, it looked as though we were watching a man whose mind and body were at odds. He was no longer carrying the injury that caused such pain in his foot, but his body was also not the same as the one that had delivered marathon victories in the past. Cedrik-Marcel showed no signs of faltering with the finish line in sight, a prospect which was a refuge of hope. He knew he had his man and completed a 6-4 6-1 6-4 win, without incident.

I sat in disbelief. The stream I was watching eventually cut off and the room was silent. It hit me at last - that fear that had been hanging around ever since Hewitt's serious hip injury in 2008, that fear that it may be over. That fear became a reality in my mind - It's over, there's nothing left. All of the great matches, the thrilling battles, they were through. If Lleyton couldn't do the job in Davis Cup, it was a logical conclusion to draw that he wouldn't be interested in hanging around the tour. That was the day, standing in stunned disbelief in my living room, that I thought I felt the curtain begin to draw. Lleyton Hewitt had lost a tennis match, but it felt like much more was lost. It felt like the end.

Former Davis Cup captain John Fitzgerald later remarked, "He’s like a worn-out warrior”.
Referring to the doubles, captain Pat Rafter said, “I was a little worried after the doubles match how much energy Lleyton used out there”. 
Rafter would finally lead the team, again featuring an impressive Tomic and Hewitt, back to the World Group 12 months later.

In reality, Hewitt had returned to form earlier than expected by playing at such a high standard in July and August on the grass and hard courts of Newport, The Olympics and the US Open, respectively. Though it perhaps should have been expected that he would find the transition to clay a struggle, the manner of this defeat in September 2012 made it look as though Hewitt's body had passed the point of no return. If father time was calling Hewitt's name that day, Lleyton wasn't ready to listen just yet, he had much more to say first.

Never write off Lleyton Hewitt!

http://www.tennis.com.au/news/2012/09/17/australia-falls-short-in-world-group-play-off

Fantastic in Florianopolis

April of 2001, the Davis Cup quarter finals. Hewitt and Australia travel to take on Brazil on the hometown clay court of Gustavo Kuerten, the reigning French Open champion who would win his third French Open crown weeks later. On day 1 the 12000 boisterous home fans witness Hewitt comfortably beat Fernando Meligeni 6-3, 6-3, 6-3 and the day ended with the teams tied at 1-1 after Kuerten defeated Pat Rafter, with Rafter retiring citing elbow pain while Kuerten was 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (1), 2-1 up.

The doubles rubber on day 2 pits Hewitt and Pat Rafter against Kuerten and Oncins in a match that will undeniably swing the tie in favour of the victors. Hewitt and Rafter pull off the victory 7-6 (7) 7-6 (3) 7-6 (5) in a match that led Davis Cup captain John Fitzgerald to remark "It's easy to get carried away, but I can't remember seeing anything in doubles that was better than that, certainly in the last decade".

The following day, the fourth rubber, and Hewitt takes on the best clay courter of his generation in his own back yard. After breaking Brazilian hearts with three tiebreak set wins in the doubles, Hewitt holds firm in two further tiebreaks against Guga to win 7-6 (5) 6-3 7-6 (3) and book Australia's place in the semi finals against Sweden. "I came with all my weapons and he had all the right answers at the right times" Kuerten remarked.
"This is an incredible feeling for me, beating Guga in his hometown, on his favourite surface," Hewitt said. "This was the best match I've ever played.."



http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/tennis/2001/davis_cup/news/2001/04/06/brazil_australia_ap/
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/tennis/2001/davis_cup/news/2001/04/07/brazil_australia_ap/
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/tennis/2001/davis_cup/news/2001/04/08/australia_brazil_ap/

Lleyton Hewitt - The Matches

Lleyton Hewitt is a man who has played in so many memorable matches, that it's tough to remember them all! With 826 singles matches and 177 doubles matches played to date, the Adelaide born battler has hit the heights and had some lows in a career that will no doubt land him a place in the hall of fame when he hangs up the racket.

In this blog I will be looking back at some of the matches that stand out from the 1003 matches that Hewitt has competed in, including:

The losses:

2001 Wimbledon 4th Rd & Davis Cup (Home, grass) - Nicolas Escude  6-4, 4-6, 3-6, 6-4, 4-6  & 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, 3-6, 4-6
2002 US Open Semi - Andre Agassi 4-6, 6-7(5), 7-6(1), 2-6
2003 Australian Open 4th Rd - Younes El Aynaoui 7-6(4), 6-7(4), 6-7(5), 4-6
2005 Australian Open Final - Marat Safin 6-1, 3-6, 4-6, 4-6
2005 Davis Cup (Home, grass) - David Nalbandian 2-6 4-6 4-6
2005 US Open SF - Roger Federer 3-6 6-7 (0) 6-4 3-6
2006 Wimbledon QF - Marcos Baghdatis 1-6, 7-5, 6-7(5), 2-6
2007 Davis Cup (Away, clay) - Kristof Vliegen 6-4 4-6 6-3 3-6 4-6
2007 Hamburg semi - Rafael Nadal  6-2, 3-6, 5-7
2007 Wimbledon 4th Rd - Novak Djokovic 6-7(8), 6-7(2), 6-4, 6-7(5)
2008 Indian Wells r4 - Mardy Fish 5-7, 6-3, 6-7(4) 
2009 Wimbledon QF - Andy Roddick 3-6, 7-6(10), 6-7(1), 6-4, 4-6 (& 7-6 7-6 to Roddick at Queens)
2010 Davis Cup (Home, grass) Wawrinka 6-4 4-6 7-6 (7) 4-6 3-6
2012 Davis Cup (Away, clay) Cedric-Marcel Stebe 4-6 1-6 6-4
2011 Australian Open R1 - David Nalbandian 6-3, 4-6, 6-3, 6-7(1), 7-9
2013 French Open r1 - Gilles Simon 6-3, 6-1, 4-6, 1-6, 5-7 
2013 Wimbledon r2 - Dustin Brown 4-6, 4-6, 7-6(3), 2-6
2013 Newport Final - Nicolas Mahut 7-5, 5-7, 3-6
2013 US Open 4th Rd - Mikhail Youzhny 3-6, 6-3, 7-6(3), 4-6, 5-7

The victories:

1998 Adelaide SF - Andre Agassi 7-6(5), 7-6(4)
1998 Adelaide F - Jason Stoltenberg 3-6, 6-3, 7-6(4)
2000 Queens F - Pete Sampras 6-4 6-4
2000 Indianapolis doubles F - w Stolle def Bjorkman/Mirnyi 6-2 3-6 6-3
2000 US Open doubles F - w Mirnyi def Ferreira/Leach 6-4 5-7 7-6 (5)
2001 Davis Cup -v- Brazil (Away, clay) - Kuerten 7-6 (5) 6-3 7-6 (3)
2001 Davis Cup doubles -v- Brazil (Away, clay) - w Rafter def Kuerten/Oncins 7-6 (7) 7-6 (3) 7-6 (5)
2001 US Open F - Pete Sampras 7-6 (4) 6-1 6-1
2001 Masters F & Davis Cup (Home, grass) - Sebastien Grosjean 6-3 6-3 6-4 & 6-3 6-2 6-3
2002 San Jose F - Agassi 4-6 7-6 (6) 7-6 (4)
2002 Indian Wells, general review
2002 Wimbledon F - David Nalbandian 6-1 6-3 6-2
2002 Masters - RR Marat Safin 6-4 2-6 6-4
2002 Masters SF - Roger Federer 7-5 5-7 7-5
2002 Masters F - Juan Carlos Ferrero 7-5 7-5 2-6 2-6 6-4
2003 Davis Cup (Home, hard) - Roger Federer 5-7 2-6 7-6 (4) 7-5 6-1
2003 Davis Cup F (Home, grass) - Juan Carlos Ferrero 3-6 6-3 3-6 7-6 (0) 6-2
2004 US Open Semi - Joachin Johansson 6-4 7-5 6-3
2004 Masters Semi - Andy Roddick 6-3 6-3 
2005 Australian Open 2nd Rd - James Blake 4-6, 7-6(8), 6-0, 6-3
2005 Australian Open 3rd Rd - Juan Ignacio Chela 6-2, 4-6, 6-1, 6-4
2005 Australian Open 4th Rd - Rafael Nadal 7-5 3-6 1-6 7-6 (3) 6-2
2005 Australian Open QF - David Nalbandian 6-3 6-2 1-6 3-6 10-8
2005 Australian Open SF - Andy Roddick 3-6 7-6 (3) 7-6 (4) 6-1
2005 Davis Cup (Home, grass) - Guillermo Coria 7-6(5), 6-1, 1-6, 6-2
2005 US Open R3 & Wimbledon  R4 - Taylor Dent 6-3 3-6 6-7 (2) 6-2 7-5 &  6-4, 6-4, 6-7(7), 6-3
2007 Hamburg R16 Nikolay Davydenko 6-4 2-6 6-4
2007 Davis Cup (Away, clay) - Janko Tipsarevic 6-2 3-6 4-6 6-1 6-1
2008 Australian Open 3rd Rd- Marcos Baghdatis 4-6 7-5 7-5 6-7 (4) 6-3
2008 Olympics doubles R2 - w Guccione def Nadal/Robredo 6-2 7-6 (5)
2009 Wimbledon R2 - Juan Martin Del Potro 6-3 7-5 7-5
2009 Wimbledon R4 - Radek Stepanek 4-6 2-6 6-1 6-2 6-2
2010 Halle F - Roger Federer 3-6 7-6 (4) 6-4
2010 Davis Cup doubles (Home, grass) w Guccione def Federer/Wawrinka 2-6 6-4 6-2 7-6 (5)
2012 Australian Open R3 - Milos Raonic 4-6 6-3 7-6 (5) 6-3
2012 Olympics R2 - Marin Cilic 6-4 7-5
2012 US Open R2 - Gilles Muller  3-6, 7-6(5), 6-7(5), 7-5, 6-4
2012 Davis Cup doubles (Away, clay) - w Guccione def Becker/Petzschner 6-3 6-3 2-6 7-6 (4)
2013 San Jose doubles QF - w Matosevic def Bryan/Bryan 6-4 6-7 (4) 10-7
2013 Queens QF - Juan Martin Del Potro 6-2 2-6 6-2
2013 Wimbledon R1 - Stanislas Wawrinka 6-4 7-5 6-3
2013 US Open R2 - Juan Martin Del Potro 6-4 5-7 3-6 7-6 (2) 6-1 
2013 Davis Cup (Away, clay) - def Lukasz Kubot 6-1 6-3 6-2