The Lleyton Hewitt Appreciation Thread

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djrossie said:
Limited in that he doesn't have much in terms of flair and power in any of his groundstrokes as compared with a myriad of other players. Well apart from his lob which is a bit of a trademark. As well as an unimpressive serve. Overcomes this by being a great returner, smart shot selection, court speed and grit and determination. The way i've read his decline it's mostly due to his injuries and gaining weight. Will always believe he is probably one of the great overachievers in sport.
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Yeah, what I meant is along those lines. His trademark shots are defensive ones rather than attacking/powerful, and as we saw the other night against Youzny, he doesn't have a go to shot that can consistently get him free points when he needs them.
 

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Watched a replay of Lleyton's epic match against Nalbandian from a few years ago, came back from 2 sets down to win the next 3 sets. Unbelievable, pain was etched on his face numerous times, but he kept going, never gave up once....brilliant stuff!

...just hope someone shows this particular game to both Tomic and Kyrgios.

Will no doubt shed a tear when the final ball is hit by our tenacious, incredible champ Lleyton Hewitt.

We have been blessed to see him play this past 20 years.

Well done Lleyton, time to sit back and enjoy watching your beloved Crows.
 
Did lol at his celebration after beating.... Duckworth, almost like Brett Lee celebrating bowling out the number 11 batsman of a side... guess it was just celebrating winning in the first round for a while :p.

Channel 7 need to dust off John Alexander from his political duties so we can have him in the commentary box using his old "LLeyton Hewitt at his blistering best" phrase.
 
gee he was such an amazing player. still achieved so much but feel like he could've achieved so much more if courts weren't slowed down as much.
 
Like many kids at the time, I liked tennis (one of my earliest tennis memories is the 1995 Agassi-Sampras AO final), but my interest elevated a notch following the Rafter USO win, so the 1998 Australian summer of tennis was the first I followed round by round, and so I'll always be deeply fond of that month of tennis. Still recall the utter randomness of that 1998 Hewitt title in Adelaide, so I've essentially grown up with him. I remember virtually every significant match in his career, so him retiring will be the end of an era (although Haas hasn't retired yet, and I remember liking him from his 1998 Hopman Cup appearance way back then).
 
You think about the greats and their greatest strengths.
Boris' serve
Rogers backhand
Petes everything
Andre's eye

Ley Ley didn't have any of those weapons at his disposal.
What weapons he DID have were his heart , guts and testicles.
Throw in the legs when he was in his prime too.

An utter pleasure to watch his career from start to finish.
The excitement his 05 Aus open run gave me will stay with me to the grave , as will the hurt of falling 1 match short.


BALBOA !!!!!!!!!!!!!
 

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Bomberboyokay said:
He stinks.
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Thank you Lleyton for beating the French in France. Thank you for beating gustavo kuerton in Brazil on clay Just thank you for your fight you determination and pride you had for your country when it was needed Well he's leaving tennis in Australia in good shape. Compared to about 6 years ago. When on one leg he was still our best player
 
Cheers to Lleyton. Definitely a childhood hero and so many memories. Most notably I think I'll remember the Baghdatis game the most as my 11-year-old self was up until 3 am or whatever it was watching it with the thousands of other Australians. Amazing that was. Even tonight, I didn't think Hewitt was done at 5-3 in the last. Nothing would stop him from maintaining a positive, never-say-die mentality - something that I adapted into my tennis as a kid and through the tournaments I played while I was growing up (way off the pace now;)). I'll never forget the time my grandma rang me, would have been about ten or so years ago, when Hewitt was trailing James Blake 2 sets to love at the Open and she was already reassuring me saying he'll be back next year and not to worry about it. And yeah, he ended up winning of course. Just about typifies what he was on the court. Not by any stretch the biggest ball-hitter, but with someone like Hewitt you don't need to be if you've got the other traits and that's why he won slams. I'll miss seeing him out on the court every summer that's for sure. Hats off to the little soldier.
 
An end of an era. Congratulations Lleyton on a terrific career. You have carried Australian tennis on your back for the best part of two decades and you will always be remembered for your never say die attitude. The Australian Open won't be the same next year:(
 
Severe said:
Best I've seen IMO. That was the match that got me interested in tennis.
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Certainly not the best match I've seen but it was bloody intense, a mental battle as much as anything. The momentum swings in the fourth and fifth sets were staggering.
 
SJ said:
Certainly not the best match I've seen but it was bloody intense, a mental battle as much as anything. The momentum swings in the fourth and fifth sets were staggering.
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If I watched it again it might not be. But at the time I was just understanding the game thanks to a new mate who followed tennis, it was the moment where I realised what a good game it can be.
 
That run to the final in 05 was definitely pretty epic, beat some big scalps on the way and noise from the crowd was electric. Felt very conflicted during the final though, lots of respect for Hewitt and he'd won me over by then but Safin is Safin (favourite player after the Fed) so ultimately I was pretty happy to see him win. Was the wrong winner from a dramatic/romantic perspective though, two polar opposites; the natural genius with a terrible temperament and an unquenchable thirst for vodka and women up against the local hero with limited talent but enormous courage and discipline. Maybe I've watched Rocky too often but Hewitt had to win that and looked a sure thing after the first set too...
 
I've said it many times but thankyou Lleyton, your career when I was growing up was one I looked up to and got me into tennis. His fight and the way he would play his matches will stick with me, whether it be here or at Wimbledon or New York or Davis Cup, I loved every minute of it. Tennis certainly isn't the same.

I'm going to have to read through his matches sometime, bring back memories of some crazy matches from the past 15 or so years.
 
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