Raven Klaasen and Marcelo Melo won Saturday’s lone doubles match at the Infosys Hall of Fame Open, saving a match point to defeat Americans Robert Galloway and Alex Lawson in a Match Tie-break.

The top seeds dropped their first set of the week but battled back to claim a 4-6, 6-3, 11-9 victory, winning the final three points of the contest after facing a match point on serve at 8/9 in the Match Tie-break. Klaasen/Melo never led the decisive tie-break but clawed back from a 5/8 deficit as they scored six of the last seven points.

With the dramatic victory, the South African-Brazilian team advanced to their third tour-level final. Each of their past two title matches came in 2015, when they were crowned champions in Tokyo and at the Rolex Shanghai Masters. The all-American team of William Blumberg and Steve Johnson stands in the way of their third title.

The fourth seeds advanced to the final with a 6-4, 6-4 win against Ramkumar Ramanathan and John-Patrick Smith on Friday. Blumberg is seeking to repeat as the Newport doubles champion after winning the 2021 title with countryman Jack Sock.

Maxime Cressy’s breakout 2022 season continued Saturday at the Infosys Hall of Fame Open, where the American reached his third final of the year with a 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 victory against four-time Newport champion John Isner.

The fourth seed ended Isner’s 10-match tournament winning streak with a strong serving performance and a consistent baseline game that helped him get the better of the few rallies in the match. Cressy escaped 15/40 as he served for his place in the final, producing a sublime pickup volley to save the first break point before sealing the match with a serve-and-volley play.

“John just completely levelled up on the serve starting in the second set,” Cressy said in his on-court interview. “Just hitting the lines and hitting many more aces. I just had to focus on what I could control, my serve. He definitely played a big level starting in the second set.

“The opportunities came and I seized one of them, by luck. I apologised to him, but I guess I created the luck by staying patient.”

That luck came late in the third set, when Cressy secured the decisive break in bizarre circumstances. After Cressy brought up a break chance with strong returning, he lobbed a desperate shot just over the net at ad-out. But the ball travelled back onto his side of the net after bouncing, leaving Isner unable to make a play on the ball from an awkward position.

Cressy dominated the opening set, with Isner receiving a visit from the tournament physiotherapist for an apparent calf problem. But after dropping serve twice in the opener, Isner dialled in on both serve and return in set two as he forced a decider.

The younger American was back in control in the final set as Isner began to misfire from the baseline under heavy pressure from deep Cressy returns. After saving two break points at 1-2 in the decider, Isner could not escape later in the set.

Cressy finished with 22 aces to the his opponent’s 13, winning 86 per cent (32./37) of his first-serve points in the one-hour, 51-minute contest.

With the victory, Cressy advanced to the third tour-level final of his career, with all three coming this season. He is seeking his first title after falling just short in Melbourne against Rafael Nadal and in Eastbourne against Taylor Fritz.

The American has moved up 81 spots in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings since the end of the 2022 season, the biggest rise among players inside the top 50. Currently at a career-high of No. 41, Cressy is up to No. 34 in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings and could move as high as No. 32 with the title in Newport.

After earning his first Top 10 win in a victory against Felix Auger-Aliassime at Wimbledon, Cressy credits his rise to his newfound confidence. 

“Not so much on the court — it was more mental to get that confidence that I can compete in the ATP [events],” he said. “Conditioning and confidence was a key for me and I’ve been able to build it throughout the last two months so I’m incredibly happy.”

Now 2-0 against Isner this season following his five-set win at the Australian Open, Cressy will face third seed Alexander Bublik in Sunday’s final. The Kazakh defeated Jason Kubler 6-3, 6-2 later on Saturday to reach his second Newport title match.

“Facing me in Newport is not an easy task,” the 24-year-old said after cooling off the red-hot Aussie, who upset top seed Felix Auger-Aliassime in the second round after reaching the fourth round at Wimbledon as a qualifier. “I played well. I wish him all the best… he had his streak, maybe I will have mine.”

Buiblik was in command from the start, breaking early in both sets as he cruised to victory without facing a break point. Using deft touch and several well-timed drop shots to complement his powerful groundstrokes, the World No. 42 improved to 9-4 on the grass this season and 9-2 at Newport.

He will seek the second tour-level title of his career against Cressy, after lifting his maiden trophy in February in Montpellier. Following victories against Jack Sock, Andy Murray and Kubler this week, Bublik will face a new challenge in his first ATP Head2Head meeting with Cressy.

“It’s not easy to prepare for him, but that’s what tennis is all about: adjustments,” he said. “I’ll try to do certain adjustments in my game and we’ll see how it goes tomorrow.”

Lleyton Hewitt created many iconic moments throughout his career. Whether it was grinding opponents down deep into the night with his relentless play or unleashing a massive “C’mon!’ with his signature lawnmower celebration, the Australian earned fans throughout the world with his work ethic and competitive spirit.

From stepping into the spotlight aged 15 by qualifying for the Australian Open through the end of his illustrious career two decades later, Hewitt made his mark by embracing challenges. That is why on Saturday, he will be enshrined into the International Tennis Hall of Fame. 

“I did love tennis in terms of being in control of my own destiny every time I went on the court. It was just you against your opponent out there,” Hewitt told ATPTour.com. “I loved how you had to think outside of the box as well. If things weren’t going well, you had to come up with a different plan to try and work out how you were going to change something around out there on your own. I loved those challenges of it.”

Hewitt never shied away from tough tests, even as a kid. When the Australian was 12, dressed in Andre Agassi’s kit, he visited the home of his future coach, Darren Cahill, and challenged him to play sets. After losing the first two sets against a man who had just left the Tour, Lleyton’s father, Glynn, tried to give him advice.

“Zip it Glynny boy, I’ve got this,” Hewitt quickly said, according to Cahill. Lleyton never backed down as a kid. Some things never change.

He is unsure exactly where that mentality came from, but attributes at least part of it to his roots in AFL Football, which was his first choice in his pre-teen years. His father also played the sport professionally.

No matter who was across the net and regardless of the circumstances, Hewitt gave it his all throughout his career. Although that was evident from his early days on Tour, like when he defeated Agassi en route to the Adelaide title in 1998 as a 16-year-old, that became clear to the wider sports world at the 2001 US Open.

One year earlier he had made the semi-finals in Flushing Meadows, losing to Pete Sampras. This time in the last four, he faced former World No. 1 Yevgeny Kafelnikov, one of his early rivals. At the time, Hewitt had won four of their five matches, but defeating a two-time singles major winner in the semi-finals of a Grand Slam is a different beast — for most players, at least.

“I think at that time experience wasn’t the issue, because Lleyton was already developed into a top-class player,” Kafelnikov said. “We knew that sooner or later he would be winning Slams, he would be the No. 1 player in the world, because he had some wins and titles already showing he was going to be there for quite a while.

“I remember to be honest his match against [Andy] Roddick in the quarters and I was hoping that Roddick was going to win that match because I didn’t want to play him in that semi-final. The rest is history now. He beat me quite easily. I never stood any chance in that match.”

Hewitt defeated Kafelnikov 6-1, 6-2, 6-1, positioning himself to play for his first Grand Slam singles title. It was an emphatic, message-sending victory. The Australian was not backing down from anyone.

That would be put to the test again in the final against legendary American Pete Sampras, who did not lose serve in consecutive wins against Top 10 stars Patrick Rafter, Andre Agassi and Marat Safin to reach the championship match.

“I wasn’t terribly nervous before that first US Open final. I’m not sure if it was because I was the heavy underdog going into the final playing Pete. For me probably the most surreal moment was actually the coin toss,” Hewitt said. “I actually had to walk out about to play Pete Sampras in a US Open final, [facing] a guy I’ve idolised and looked up to for so many years. But then doing the coin toss was Ivan Lendl, who was a Hall of Famer, who I grew up going to the Australian Open and watching Ivan every year dominate that tournament.”

As a kid, Hewitt’s parents took him and his sister, Jaslyn, to the Australian Open every year. Lleyton vividly remembers rushing to the back courts to watch Lendl training with his coach, Tony Roche, who would later become Hewitt’s longtime coach and mentor.

“That was a nervous moment, not so much actually playing the match,” Hewitt said of Lendl being on the court. “I don’t remember actually being told that that was happening either. So for me to walk out for my first US Open final and have not only the guy you’re playing in Pete Sampras and his aura, but Ivan Lendl as well just to top it off. It was a special moment.”

Hewitt broke Sampras’ serve in the first game of the match en route to a 7-6(4), 6-1, 6-1 victory.

^{Photo Credit: Jamie Squire/Allsport}
“I felt like the pressure was all on Pete in a lot of ways as well. I’d beaten Pete before in other tournaments leading in, so I felt confident in that. But I also backed my return of serve, which at the time was probably up there with Andre Agassi with the return of serves on Tour,” Hewitt said. “It was really backing my return against Pete’s serve on that particular day.

“It gave me a lot of confidence breaking him in the first game, even though I got broken in the next game to go back on serve. But it gave me confidence that I was able to do it, and so for the rest of the match, it wasn’t something that I was doubting.”

Hewitt rarely doubted himself. He might not have had a weapon that sizzled like Sampras’ serve, but throughout his career, the right-hander proved he had tools that were plenty good enough, even beyond his competitive spirit, according to Kafelnikov.

“He was quick, his groundstrokes were solid. He was using the power of opponents quite well. When he was on the top of the game, I think even if you would take the best of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal or Novak Djokovic, I think he would be right there with them,” Kafelnikov said. “Maybe even if you take the best matches of Lleyton or best spell when he was basically unbeatable, I think he could easily be on the same plateau as these three, particularly on the hard courts, that is for sure.”

Later that year, Hewitt won the Tennis Masters Cup, now known as the Nitto ATP Finals, during which he guaranteed that he would become the youngest year-end No. 1 in Pepperstone ATP Rankings history at just 20.

“I wasn’t afraid at a young age to take it up to the older, better players. I think that was probably the most telling reason why I was able to make the transition from juniors to seniors at such a young age,” Hewitt said. “If you don’t have that inner belief in yourself that you belong there, then you’re not going to do it and it’s going to be a lot harder to make that transition as we’ve seen so many good juniors really struggle to do that for a number of years. I didn’t have the biggest weapons out on the court, but I certainly backed myself with my strengths.”

Hewitt would go on to win the 2002 Wimbledon singles title, finish year-end No. 1 for the second consecutive year that season, lift 30 tour-level singles trophies and earn 65 victories against Top 10 opponents. He also brought his best for Australia leading his country to the Davis Cup title in 1999 and 2003. Cahill said about Hewitt’s efforts for Australia: “When it came to Davis Cup and representing his country, that’s where he truly defined himself and his character. In his eyes, there was no greater honour and he played with his heart and soul every single time he donned the green and gold.

As impressive as Hewitt’s tangible accomplishments are, most people will remember him for the legacy he left behind. When fans think of “Rusty”, they think of “C’mon!” They recall his grit and determination. Coaches have long urged their players to compete like Lleyton Hewitt.

“That is something I did pride myself on every time I went out on the court. To be honest, it won me a lot of matches before I actually went on the court in terms of people knowing that I was not going to give up. I was always going to leave it all out there, draw a line in the sand and I wasn’t going to back behind that,” Hewitt said. “It’s something I’m really proud of. The accomplishments probably came because of that reason.

Some dread long, gruelling matches and just try to survive. Hewitt embraced those moments and thrived, winning 64.1 per cent of his clashes that went to a deciding set.

“I enjoyed the battle. I think I was prepared for the battle as well most of the time. Probably moreso than a lot of the players I played at certain stages,” Hewitt said. “It gave me more confidence when it got into a match situation like that. If you can go out there and understand that you’ve done all the hard work, it’s one less thing that you have to worry about.

“But I see guys now, like [Rafael] Nadal, if he ever talks about my game or what I did… seeing someone like that, who I see as the greatest competitor our sport has ever seen — possibly the greatest competitor in any sport ever in my opinion — and to see that he drew some inspiration from me going out there and leaving it out on the court, that’s something I’m pretty proud of.”

^{Photo Credit: Peter Staples/ATP Tour}
Hewitt has done his best to transfer that mentality to future generations. He is Australia’s ATP Cup and Davis Cup captain, and is always available to his countrymen in need of guidance. John Millman grew up watching Hewitt on television.

“What comes to mind when I think of Lleyton is how much of a competitor he is,” Millman said. “He is one of the biggest competitors to play the game. He wants to win at everything and that is why he was so good, that tenacity.”

Fellow Australian John Peers added: “You can see the drive he has always had for the game, it’s unbelievable. The drive he instills in all the boys is amazing and it is a credit to him on how well he holds himself on and off the court. It is incredible what he has done for the game.”

Hewitt was unable to win his home major, the Australian Open. But whether it was battling on Rod Laver Arena until 4:34 a.m. or reaching the final in 2005 despite a hip problem that prevented him from practising on days off, the home favourite never gave anything short of his best. Because of that, he is able to keep his head high with no regrets.

“I’m sure it’s a lot easier to live yourself if you’ve ticked every box and done absolutely everything you could have done,” Hewitt said. “I did absolutely everything in my power and certain things could change and may not have gone my way at the US Open or Wimbledon in the tournaments I won or even in the Masters Cups where I was able to clinch the World No. 1 rankings in those years. I look back and I’m just very fortunate for all the hard work and effort I put in that I got the results I feel like I deserved.”

Today’s induction into the International Tennis Hall Of Fame has also been well deserved.

Francisco Cerundolo’s impressive 2022 season is showing no signs of slowing down.

The Argentine World No. 39 delivered another accomplished all-around showing on Saturday afternoon at the Nordea Open in Bastad, where he ran out a 6-3, 6-2 semi-final winner against fifth seed Pablo Carreno Busta at the ATP 250 event.

Following his second-round win against top seed Casper Ruud on Wednesday in Sweden, Cerundolo had described 2022 as “the best year so far in my career”. Yet things appear to be only getting better for the 23-year-old, who will now face second seed Andrey Rublev or countryman Sebastian Baez in his second ATP Tour final on Sunday.

“I think I played one of the best matches in my career today,” said Cerundolo in his on-court interview. “Everything went well. I am feeling so comfortable and playing with so much confidence that it’s amazing to be playing like this. Hopefully I can keep going and maintain my level or improve it.

“It’s fantastic [to be in another final]. Last year I was in the final at home in Buenos Aires and I lost pretty badly, so I hope tomorrow I can have a better match and hopefully take my first title home.”

Cerundolo was playing in his third semi-final of the 2022 season in Sweden. The Argentine reached the last four in Rio de Janeiro in February and surged to a maiden ATP Masters 1000 semi-final in Miami in March.

A tight first set hinged on a pair of hard-fought games that ultimately went the way of Cerundolo. The Argentine fended off two Carreno Busta break points in the third game to hold his serve, before converting his fourth break point of the eighth game as he frequently dictated play with some huge striking off the forehand wing.

That proved to be enough for Cerundolo to seal the set, and the 23-year-old did not look back from that point on as he frequently manoeuvred his opponent around the court to race to a 5-0 lead in the second set. Despite a brief blip on serve that allowed Carreno Busta to reclaim a break, Cerundolo converted his second match point two games later to cap an assured 76-minute victory.

Aside from his hard-fought three-set win against Ruud on Wednesday, Cerundolo has brushed past Pedro Sousa, Aslan Karatsev and Carreno Busta without dropping a set this week in Sweden. Saturday’s victory in his maiden ATP Head2Head meeting against Carreno Busta lifts the Argentine to No. 32 in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings.

The win improved Cerundolo’s 2022 record to 16-11, and his record against Top 20 opponents this year now stands at 3-4. Should he lift his maiden tour-level trophy in Sweden on Sunday, the Argentine could rise as high as No. 30 in this Monday’s update of the Pepperstone ATP Rankings.

How much do you remember about Lleyton Hewitt’s career? To commemorate his induction into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport, it’s time to test your knowledge of his days on the ATP Tour. 

Do you recall the Aussie’s age when he claimed the first of his 30 singles titles? (Hint: he was still in high school at the time!) Who won the final ATP Head2Head clash in the rivalry between Hewitt and Roger Federer? How many times did he finish at No. 1 in the year-end Pepperstone ATP Rankings? Where did he win his two Grand Slam titles?

Show off your tennis smarts in this Hewitt trivia quiz:

More from Enshrinement Weekend
* Hewitt’s Path Paved By Family & Friends
* Cahill: Hewitt’s Journey From ‘Little Mongrel’

Lleyton Hewitt was at dinner on Thursday evening in Newport with friends and family before his Saturday enshrinement into the International Tennis Hall of Fame. The Australian was sitting at a table with Peter Luczak and Jaymon Crabb when he received a special surprise.

In walked his former coach, Tim Gullikson Career Coach Award winner Tony Roche, who had not told him he was traveling to Rhode Island. Hewitt’s face immediately lit up as he quickly rose from his chair to greet his mentor and friend.

When Hewitt is officially enshrined on Saturday evening, it will be because of his many accomplishments, which include two year-end No. 1 finishes in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings, two Grand Slam titles at the 2001 US Open and 2002 Wimbledon, two Nitto ATP Finals triumphs and plenty more. But to the 41-year-old, this weekend is not about his accomplishments, but the people who helped him along the way.

That is why on Friday morning when he toured the International Tennis Hall of Fame’s museum, the 262nd inducteee was not just there with his own family, but his friends and their families, too.

“To be honest, it wouldn’t mean that much if it was just me, because you look back on your career and so many people are involved in that as well,” Hewitt told ATPTour.com. “I wouldn’t have had the results that I was able to have if you didn’t have those people supporting you, backing you up, helping you out day to day throughout all those years.”

^{Peter Luczak, Lleyton Hewitt and his father, Glynn Hewitt, tour the museum. Photo Credit: Andrew Eichenholz/ATP Tour}
When Hewitt — a member of the Class of 2021 being celebrated this year because of the Covid-19 pandemic — walked up the three flights of stairs that lead to the museum on Friday morning, one of the first things the Australian saw was a small plaque with his picture on it.

“Considerably larger than the sum of his parts, the Australian Lleyton Hewitt was an inexhaustible competitor with uncanny court sense and extraordinary match playing acumen,” the plaque read. “Hewitt’s remarkable court coverage and excellent return of serve carried him to career defining triumphs at the US Open in 2001 and Wimbledon in 2002. He finished both years at No. 1 in the world. Contributing mightily to Australia’s Davis Cup victories in 1999 and 2003, Hewitt was unassailable when it counted, meeting every challenge forthrightly, performing commendably under pressure.”

Those are the stats behind his induction. But the people behind it were those roaming the halls of the Newport Casino. Two dozen family and friends were there with the Australian step for step as he explored the history of the sport at a venue where he won the singles and doubles titles at the Infosys Hall of Fame Open in 2014.

^{Tony Roche, Lleyton Hewitt and his son, Cruz Hewitt, pose for a photo. Photo Credit: Andrew Eichenholz/ATP Tour}
Several children in attendance enjoyed playing a quiz game and taking their turn as broadcasters, voicing over historic points in tennis history. Lleyton’s son, Cruz, had a blast calling a point between Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal from the 2012 Australian Open final.

Hewitt said several times how honoured he was to be on the verge of joining some of the best players and most important figures in tennis history in the Hall of Fame. But it was even more important to him to have those who helped him to the accomplishment by his side.

“The people that are here with me in Newport and even my close friends back home in Australia, they know who they are,” Hewitt said. “They’ve been such a big part of my tennis journey and the person I am on and off the court. That’s probably the absolute best moment of this weekend, that I get to share it with those people.”

Stan Smith, a fellow Hall of Famer who has previously served as the institution’s president, said it best as he greeted the Australian towards the end of his tour.

“Welcome!”

Andy Murray lost a tight two-setter on Friday at the Infosys Hall of Fame Open, bringing his grass-court season to a close with a quarter-final defeat to Alexander Bublik. While the former World No. 1 is satisfied with some parts of his time on the surface this year, he is hungry for more.

“Obviously I just want the results to be a bit better. I felt like I had a good chance of [advancing] here. If I got through Bublik, it would have been a good opportunity potentially in the semi-finals,” Murray said. “But… to have my body feeling pretty good and getting lots of matches in is important for me.”

The 35-year-old was pursuing his first ATP Tour singles title since Antwerp in 2019. Instead of lifting the trophy, Murray settled for a quarter-final exit after reaching the final in Sydney and Stuttgart earlier in the year.

“The grass-court season as a whole there were some good moments, but also some tough ones. Today’s match and the loss at Wimbledon were disappointing and frustrating for me, but then I also had my best wins in a while in Stuttgart,” Murray said. “So a bit up and down, but a little bit of progress overall and I’ll try and keep that going through the hard-court summer.”

The good news is that Murray has already played 13 tournaments this season and not spent any significant period of time away from competitive action. The No. 52 player in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings is eager to continue searching for his best tennis.

“[I want] to continue to improve,” Murray said. “If I keep seeing progress I’ll continue to keep playing.”

In his loss against Bublik, it was not that Murray was wiped off the court. He saved just one of the four break points he faced, and was only able to convert one of the two he earned. That made all the difference.

“It was disappointing. [The] first set came down to a couple of points and then I had a few opportunities in the second. But I thought he played a pretty solid match,” Murray said. “Generally he can be a little bit up and down, but there was really only one moment in the second set [when] he was a bit inconsistent. But for most of the match, he was solid.”

^{Photo Credit: Andrew Eichenholz/ATP Tour}
It was nevertheless an enjoyable week for Murray, who had not competed in Newport since making the semi-finals as a 19-year-old in 2006. On Thursday, he even met Minnesota Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins, who is a big tennis fan.

“I’d never actually met any NFL athletes before, but he seemed like he loved his tennis and he was saying that he feels like a lot of the movements you make in tennis are similar to a quarterback,” Murray said. “He would prefer to do an hour of tennis to an hour of agility drills, which I can understand as you get a little bit older, trying to keep things fresh and fun in training in preseason is important.”

Alexander Bublik and Andy Murray have become familiar opponents this season on the ATP Tour. Their Friday meeting at the Infosys Hall of Fame Open was their fourth of the season, with Bublik securing a split of those matchups with a 7-5, 6-4 victory in Newport.

The Kazakh third seed earned a measure of grass-court revenge after Murray defeated him in straight sets in Stuttgart last month. The Briton went on to advance to the final in Germany, and now Bublik will hope to do the same in Rhode Island, where he reached the title match in 2019.

“It’s great to be in the semi-finals again. I never lost before,” he said with a smile, alluding to his 1-0 record at that stage in Newport. “I came here only for one week, so I have to [be engaged]. I’m engaged to play, I’m engaged to try to get as many matches as I can.”

Bublik was in command against the former World No. 1, pulling Murray around the court with strong serving and aggressive ground strokes as he won 80 per cent of his first-serve points. While his drop shot was not firing on all cylinders, Bublik did his damage with power rather than touch.

He claimed a late break in the opening set by firing a backhand winner to cap a marathon point. After an early break in the second, Bublik looked set to run away with the match before Murray instantly levelled, both breaks coming on untimely double faults.

Bublik then saved a break point to hold for 3-3 before securing a decisive break in the following game as he continued to pressure Murray off the ground. The Briton fought off two match points in the final game — including one on a lung-busting rally — but could not prevent Bublik from securing his place in the semi-finals.

Murray’s quarter-final run moved him up three places to No. 49 in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings. He is now 19-11 on the 2022 season, including a 7-3 mark on grass.

Jason Kubler will meet Bublik in Saturday’s semi-finals after he won an all-Australian matchup against eighth seed James Duckworth 7-5, 7-6(3). Kubler continues his red-hot form after reaching the Wimbledon fourth round, achieving his best major result at age 29.

“It’s a good mental victory for me today,” Kubler said in his on-court interview. “I’ve been putting a lot of effort into my mental side. I’m happy that I was able to stay consistent throughout the match.”

After upsetting top seed Felix Auger-Aliassime on Thursday for his first career Top 10 win, finishing a match that began Wednesday evening, Kubler followed it up with another victory in his first tour-level quarter-final. He improved to 25-4 since the start of May, including qualifying, ATP Challenger Tour and tour-level matches.

Currently positioned at World No. 102, Kubler is up to No. 94 in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings and could enter the Top 70 with the Newport title. He owns a career-high ranking of World No. 91, achieved in 2018 after five knee surgeries from 2012-16.

There are days when you just know.

It doesn’t happen often and to be perfectly honest, most of the time it is an educated guess when predicting the future of an athlete.

It was the early ’90s in Adelaide, Australia. I’d heard the whispers and chatter. It had started bouncing around tennis circles like a boom-boom Boris Becker serve. A young, skinny blond upstart who came from an elite sporting family was causing quite the stir with his level of play and unique desire to win that not everyone was completely fond of.

His name was Lleyton Hewitt. He was 12 years old.

My doorbell rang and I was expecting him. I knew of his parents Glynn (AFL football) and Cherilyn (Netball), but it was a first meeting, and it left a lasting impression that has stayed entrenched through the years.

There was Lleyton. Steely eyed and focused. He looked small for his age, and he was. Dressed in Agassi Nike clothing from head to toe, cap on backwards, zinc across his snozza, and carrying a Prince racquet bag over his shoulders full of frames.

“G’day mate, I’m Darren,” I said as I held out a hand.

“Hi, I’m Lleyton, are we going to play?” was the reply with a firm handshake.

To be honest, it wasn’t really a reply but more like a demand. I didn’t care though. Already at this point, I was amused, intrigued and intimidated all at the same time.

I was 28 years old and had just retired from the tour because of knee issues. But playing a 12-year-old kid was no problem. As it turned out, that was a slight miscalculation on my part.

We warmed up and I was amazed at his beautiful technique from the ground. Even his net game was solid and considerable work had been done to give him a strong foundation. That work had been done by one of SA’s best coaches, Peter Smith.

After 15 minutes I asked Lleyton what he’d like to do, and he replied “Let’s play sets”.

Perfect. Time to teach this little mongrel a bit of a lesson.

The first two sets went by without drama as a kick serve from a 188cm former pro was proving a little difficult for the talking garden gnome to handle. But something unusual started to happen.

His dad, who had stuck around to watch, went to offer a little advice to his charge, and Lleyton stopped him in his tracks and said “Zip it Glynny boy, I’ve got this”.

Like a velociraptor, he had started to work me out and probe for weaknesses. He stood in on my serve and took it early. He started to serve to my forehand, which I hated. And instead of allowing me to come to net on my terms, he dragged me in on junk balls and then proceeded to backhand topspin lob me to death. With every winner that came from little Hewitt’s racquet you could hear that now trademark war cry of, “C’monnnn” at least five streets away.

After the practice I walked back into my house and my wife, who was my girlfriend at the time, had been watching and smiling. The first thing she said to me was, “What do you think of that kid?”

I said, “Damn, this kid is good. He’s going to be something special”

This was a rare day when you just know.

Two years later when Lleyton was 15, I took him and two other Australian juniors to Switzerland to compete in the Junior Davis Cup, a prestigious event where all the best juniors came to represent their home nations.

There was another 15-year-old competing and representing Switzerland. His name was Roger Federer.

I knew Roger because my best mate, Peter Carter — who was based in Basel coaching and playing club tennis for TC Old Boys — had introduced me to Roger 12 months earlier and asked me to watch him practice.

I watched him. I was impressed, but not mind-blown impressed. Clearly a bad scouting day for me.

But now 12 months on and up walks Roger & Peter all dressed in their red and white (Swiss) tracksuits. Roger had grown and was now a gangly little man where Lleyton was still wearing shorts three sizes too big for him. Australia has drawn Switzerland in the first tie, and it’ll be Lleyton Hewitt vs Roger Federer in the first rubber. Peter was grinning like he had just stolen another one of my girlfriends (true story), but now I’m nervous that I’ve misread how good Lleyton is, and we are going to get sat on our backsides.

Lleyton didn’t let me down. The match was simply epic.

Federer walked away with the win 7-6 in the third set. Australia walked away with the team win 2-1. The first of many great battles between these two good mates.

^{Photo Credit: Clive Brunskill/Allsport}
Fast forward to 2001.

It takes many qualities to be an elite athlete and not everyone is blessed with great speed, strength, or height, but there are certain qualities that are non-negotiable to be a great champion.

They are work ethic, belief, resilience and purpose. They all matter and you need them all. This is what separates the great players from the good.

All these qualities, plus a little luck, were called upon during Lleyton’s run to his first major title at the US Open. He endured maybe his most challenging professional moments early in the tournament, which ended up defining him later in the event, and for the rest of his career. He matured. The man playing in the second week was not the same man who started the tournament.

When Lleyton swaggered on court for his semi-final clash against Yevgeny Kafelnikov, the stars had lined up for him to deliver his most comprehensive performance on the biggest stage to send the two-time major winner packing in straight sets. Y-Man left the court shattered.

Lleyton left the court to prepare for his first major final against the great Pete Sampras.

The morning of the final, Lleyton was surprisingly calm. He was given a sighter as to what to expect as they had played in the semi-finals at the US Open the previous year. Pete won in straight sets, but it was close.

Today, Lleyton was different. He was excited, not nervous. You could hear the 23,000 strong crowd getting rowdy nearing game time. The New York crowd doing its best to be heard through the corridors and locker rooms. He wanted a full Arthur Ashe Stadium and he wanted it to be an American on the other side of the court. He knew he’d have very little crowd support, but that’s just the way he liked it. As I said, Lleyton was different.

The players were called to enter the court, Lleyton’s cage was swung open, and the tiger was let loose onto Ashe Stadium.

Two hours later and Lleyton was holding the trophy aloft, winning in straight sets 7-6(4), 6-1, 6-1.

I was sitting next to Australia’s Davis Cup Captain John Fitzgerald for the final, and all he kept saying was, “Oh my God, this is incredible. I can’t believe he is actually going to win this”. We were both in awe of the young man.

^{Photo Credit: Matthew Stockman/Allsport}
Just a few months later he became the youngest player in history to reach World No.1, and finished 2001 with victory at the Nitto ATP Finals, capturing the year-end No.1 ranking.

A remarkable achievement.

Lleyton’s DNA was different to most. He took an individual sport and turned his matches into a team sport environment, pulling on his Aussie Rules background to rally the people around him like team-mates. There was nothing solo about his performances and he wasn’t scared to get involved in a scrap. Maybe there’s a hint of Connors, McEnroe and Nastase in him, but there’s also a lot of Newcombe, Laver, Emerson and Rosewall flowing through his veins. That true Aussie spirit with a hint of mischief just to stir things up.

When it came to Davis Cup and representing his country, that’s where he truly defined himself and his character. In his eyes, there was no greater honour and he played with his heart and soul every single time he donned the green and gold. Many years, he sacrificed his personal ranking and income to prioritise Davis Cup in his schedule. His Davis Cup record speaks for itself, and Australia’s next generation is fortunate that he continues to give back to the game by continuing as our Australian captain.

A winner of two singles majors (US Open & Wimbledon), Lleyton was the year-end No.1 two years in a row (2001 & 2002) and lifted 30 tour-level singles titles. He led Australia to two Davis Cup wins (1999 & 2003), and don’t forget the US Open doubles title with Max ‘The Beast’ Mirnyi (2000).

Lleyton etched out a remarkable career. He got unlucky with several injuries in his mid 20s that halted adding to his resume and going head-to-head with two all-time greats in Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal in their prime made it challenging.

Regardless, he will always be able to look back on his career and be proud with no regrets. As Lleyton would often say, “I left it all out there, mate”. Yes, you did young fella. And more.

Most importantly, Lleyton left an important legacy in competing for Australia and setting a standard of training and competition that every generation should look up to. He’s a role model for believing in the impossible, and then making the impossible a reality. He left nothing to chance and loved every single second of his journey. He had purpose, he bounced back through resilience, he oozed belief and he had an unmatched work ethic. And yeah, he had the heart of a lion and the mind of a velociraptor.

His reward? A well-earned induction into the International Tennis Hall of Fame

Well done, Rusty!