Lleyton Hewitt, one month shy of his seventh birthday, is leaning over a fence, waiting for Pat Cash to walk by. Cash is the Australian star, a Wimbledon champion in 1987. “I’d collected autographs, but now I was trying to get one of Cash’s chequered headbands,” recalls Hewitt, in an exclusive interview with ATPWorldTour.com.

Other kids are getting into position, hoping they get lucky too. Cash has just finished runner-up to Mats Wilander 8-6 in the fifth set of the 1988 Australian Open final, the first time the tournament was ever played at Melbourne Park. Hewitt is used to spending all day at the tennis.

It’s a massive buzz. Hewitt doesn’t get Cashy’s headband, but he gets to know him in years to come.

Hewitt is Aussie Rules Football mad. His Dad, Glynn, was once a part of the biggest sport in Australia.

Hewitt likes the team aspect of AFL. But ever since the age of six, he’s been coached tennis every Sunday by Peter Smith. Eventually, he starts to get picked in junior Australian tennis teams and starts to travel overseas without his parents at the age of 13. He does well, especially on clay, a surface that he hasn’t played on before.

On a flight home, Hewitt decides to take tennis a bit more seriously.

“I came from a sporting family and my parents were a great support,” says Hewitt. “They understood the pressure and demands I was under. I gave up AFL.”

Thinking he’ll be playing junior tournaments during the Australian summer, Hewitt gets a wild card into qualifying for the 1997 Australian Open. He wins three matches to become the youngest qualifier in championship history. Some of the ball kids are older than him.

“I sort of had to pinch myself.”

Hewitt is unranked and aged 15 when he plays Sergi Bruguera, a winner of two Roland Garros titles and a player he looks up to. “The amount of topspin he played with was something I had never seen before. It was an unbelievable experience and a great learning curve at such a young age.”

Australians begin to get to know Hewitt, but in 12 months’ time his life will completely change.

He knows every inch of Memorial Drive in Adelaide. He’s played on the courts there for years and is awarded a wild card for the ATP tournament in January 1998. He’s World No. 500.

“I drew Scott Draper, defending a lot of points as a finalist the year before. Even when I served for the match, I never thought I’m actually going to win. I scraped past another South Australian Mark Woodforde, saving one match point in the second set.

“Years later, I thought back and asked myself: what would have happened if I had gone out in the second round?”

Soon the locker room is silent, the majority of the players had left for the next tour stop. “I was sitting close to Andre [Agassi], preparing to play a guy that I idolised. I loved the way he went about his tennis, his personality and how good he was for the sport. I thought I’d try to get as many games as possible.”

It’s a pretty special occasion, a packed house on a really hot afternoon. Both of Agassi and Hewitt’s strengths are on return of serve. Neither of them breaks for two sets and Hewitt holds his nerve to win in two tie-breaks.

“I played Stolts [Jason Stoltenberg] in the final. I knew him through being an orange boy in Davis Cup ties a couple of times. He is such a nice, level-headed guy. I was very lucky to end up winning 7-6 in the third set. It was another nail-biting tie-break to finish the tournament. No one could believe it.

“At the end I pinched myself. Players go through so much of their career wondering if they are ever going to be able to hold up an ATP Tour title. It was amazing, especially in my back yard.”

The win put Hewitt’s name on the map in a big way. He’s planned to play the Australian Open junior doubles tournament with Roger Federer, but Hewitt gets wild cards into the singles and doubles’ main draws. Federer is ‘dropped’.

“I had been planning on going to school as much as possible in Year 12, the final year of high school in Australia. But I pretty much decided when I held up the trophy that I was not going back. When the opportunity presented itself, I couldn’t turn my head.”

The spotlight grew. Hewitt didn’t make any extravagant purchases with his Adelaide pay cheque. He put it in the bank and used it for travel. He rose more than 600 spots in a year.

“I hadn’t got a full-time coach, so my Dad did a lot of travelling with me. It was good to have someone around that I trusted, week in and week out.”

Throughout 2001, Hewitt didn’t focus on getting to World No. 1 at all. Not even winning a Grand Slam.

“Instead, when it was announced that the Tennis Masters Cup [now named Barclays ATP Word Tour Finals] would be played in Sydney, Pat Rafter and I made a pact to be among the Top 8. Being able to play in our back yard would be a massive achievement for both of us. That was my goal.

“The US Open came along and I played fantastic, beating James Blake and Andy Roddick in five sets, then [Yevgeny] Kafelnikov and [Pete] Sampras in the final, to put myself in a good position. The euphoria of winning my first Grand Slam title was immense.”

Hewitt finished off the year really strongly. Three players were in contention for No. 1 coming into Sydney – Gustavo Kuerten, Agassi and Hewitt.

He got through the group stages, and beat Agassi. Kuerten didn’t qualify for the knock outs. Already guaranteed a place in the semi-finals with a 2-0 record, Hewitt played his good mate, Rafter, on Friday night. It was a strange match. They would both play a Davis Cup final together the following week.

“I looked up to him and he was like a big brother to me I wouldn’t have wanted it any other way. It became a shared experience, a former No. 1 versus me, days away from No. 1 – officially. Both from Australia.”

Hewitt carries a slight hamstring niggle so he plays the semi-finals and final with greater aggression. But the pressure was off. He’d already clinched year-end No. 1, the youngest to do so, and beat Sebastien Grosjean again to lift the title. After dropping a set to him in the first group match, he didn’t lose another.

“It was a massive dream and very satisfying. I knew that all the hard work and sacrifices had paid off. Within a few years, I had played for Australia, won the Davis Cup, got to the pinnacle of the sport and held up a Grand Slam trophy… What next?”

He’s 20 years and eight months.

Hewitt always had fighting traits. “I think it’s my personality and something I was born with. I think I’m a true competitor out there, no matter what I am doing I always want to get the best out of myself. I worked very hard on the practice court, prioritising that over going to the gym. I did a lot of running, some boxing and built on a really strong fitness base that I had growing up.”

From the time Hewitt won Wimbledon in 2002, serve and volley was in decline. He played Argentina’s David Nalbandian in the first all-baseline final at the All England Club.

“The sport really changed after that. It was a case of ‘come to the net, take me on’. That was my attitude. As good as Roger Federer is, as complete a player as he is, he still prefers to play from the back of the court – even on a grass court – and picks and chooses when he comes into the net.

“I’ve known Roger for years. We have had a connection dating back to the 1995 World Youth Cup in Zurich, when he beat me in a tight three-set final. Darren Cahill was the team manager. Peter Smith, my coach, helped out Peter Carter throughout his career. Carter was like a son to the Smith family in Adelaide. At the time, Carter was charged with Federer’s development.”

Hewitt and Federer’s friendship dates back to when they were 13. But their rivalry came together one Sunday in September 2003.

It was the fourth rubber. Australia is 2-1 up and within sight of a home Davis Cup final. It’s an important day. Federer, just two months after winning his first Grand Slam title at Wimbledon, is too good for the first two-and-a-half sets. Hewitt really can’t do a lot.

“I was doing everything possible. I was down 3-5, 30/30 in the third set with Roger serving. I tried to hang in there. Roger got a little bit tight and I was able to make a few more balls. I turned the third set in a tie-break. The whole crowd and momentum began to turn my way. I won in five sets. For me to come back and find a way to dig deep and win marks it as one of the biggest victories of my career.”

In 2005, Hewitt had a near miss. The one that got away. “I ran through the toughest Grand Slam draw I ever had – right from round one at the Australian Open. I played Rafa [Nadal] in the fourth round, winning the fourth set in a tie-break, and felt like I got on top of him physically. Not many players have done that in their careers. That set the tone and I rode a massive wave of momentum with the Australian public, the whole two weeks.”

With fireworks going off in the distance at Australia Day parades, Hewitt was hurting deep in a fifth set against Nalbandian.

“I decided to draw a line in the sand. No matter how tired or sore I was, I was going to find a way to win. It wasn’t about the quality of the tennis, it was about finding the extra one per cent to turn the match around. I won 10-8. My body was sore, but I had Roddick next. I survived and reach the final…

“When I started out, the bigger guys just served big, but now they were better, stronger athletes and moved around the court so well. They are also able to play offence and defence. Marat Safin, my opponent in the 2005 Australian Open final, was such a great ball striker. He could hit winners from all areas of the court.”

Players from the past had used the same game style as Hewitt, but a lot of the Australian’s contemporaries decided to follow in his footsteps. Hewitt took the sport to a new level through his counter punching skills, intensity, return of serve and his never-say-die attitude. The tour moved on, but Hewitt’s fire was never extinguished.

“In some ways, Marat would take the sport to a new level. Just as Roger, Rafa and Novak did in future years. How could such a big guy hit the ball so hard and move so well around the court? I did my best but I come up just short. It hurt.

“I proposed to Bec the night of the final. I couldn’t get down on one knee as I was so sore from a fortnight of tennis. I might have lost the Australian Open, but I won in life when she said, ‘Yes’.”

At 34, Hewitt is now poised to start a new chapter in his life. “Bec and the kids are looking forward to it.

“I’ll still be involved in tennis as Australia’s Davis Cup captain, following in the footsteps of so many greats. It’s a huge honour. It’d be impossible to let go completely. But I soon won’t have to think about training, travel or getting my body right to keep pace with the ever evolving tour. I can sit back, chill out and I will no longer need to set my alarm and go to the gym.”

Hewitt is just about to begin his 20th straight Australian Open. His final tournament. His tennis racquets are re-gripped, his ankle braces secure, his wristbands and cap in place. He slings his bags over his shoulders, his preparation complete.

He’s ready to head out onto court. He’s ready to compete.

“C’MON!” #OneLastTime

It was 22 years ago, in the summer of 1994, that the Philippines last hosted a professional tournament on the ATP Challenger Tour. Australia’s Michael Tebbutt won his lone title, routing future World No. 4 Tim Henman in the final 6-2, 6-2. The tournament would subsequently close its doors, but more than two decades later, the city of Manila welcomes back the Philippine Open. Held this week at the same venue as it was in 1994, the tennis centre at the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex, the tournament is located in the Malate district of Manila.

“Having the Challenger in Manila is great for tennis in the Philippines,” Treat Huey told ATPWorldTour.com. Huey is one of the nation’s most successful players with six ATP World Tour doubles titles and a career-high spot of No. 20 in the Emirates ATP Doubles Rankings. “It will hopefully grow the game throughout the country, as fans and younger players will come to the Challenger and see world-class tennis. I hope they will be inspired to play and in the coming years more Filipino players will compete worldwide and on the ATP World Tour. We have some good, young players and hopefully there will be even more rising up the ranks with this tournament, as they see something to strive for.”

In the midst of a tennis renaissance, Japanese World No. 7 Kei Nishikori has put Asian tennis back on the map and look no further than the Challenger circuit for more signs of progress in the continent’s resurgence. Last year, 27 events were contested in 11 Asian countries, with the ATP Challenger Tour returning to Vietnam for the first time since 2007. British rising star Kyle Edmund won his first career title in Hong Kong, which welcomed back professional tennis after a 13-year hiatus.

“We are very pleased that Manila is hosting this ATP Challenger tournament, especially at a time when they have young players who are looking to break onto the Tour,” said Alison Lee, Chair of the ATP Challenger Committee. “All these Asian countries now hosting Challengers are contributing to the future success of this region and tennis in Asia is certainly gathering momentum. There were 17 Asian players ranked inside the Top 200 in the 2015 year-end Emirates ATP Rankings, versus only seven players 10 years prior. As the number of Challengers in this region increases, it is natural that more higher-ranked players from Asia will emerge as they gain more international playing experience.”

Manila tournament director Randy Villanueva, who serves as the vice president of the Philippine Tennis Association, hopes the tournament will continue to cultivate its identity as an emerging market in the tennis world.

“The last time the tournament was here, it was very memorable,” said Villanueva. “We’re blessed that the ATP considered us to do it here again. It’s timely too because we’ve recently had some very good junior players who are now trying their careers on the professional circuit.

“I’m passionate with what we’re doing at the tennis federation. We’ve always wanted to host an ATP event here and now we have the chance. We are excited. I hope that some Filipinos will do well in the tournament. We have Ruben Gonzales, who has won some Challengers in doubles. The fans are excited and hopefully they show up.”

World No. 105 Luca Vanni is the top seed this week in Manila, with former World No. 8 Mikhail Youzhny seeking a third ATP Challenger Tour title in as many weeks. Young guns Kimmer Coppejans, seeded fifth, and 17-year-old Duckhee Lee are in the draw as well. Four Filipinos – Gonzales, Alberto Lim, Francis Casey Alcantara and Jeson Patrombon – are looking to make a splash on home soil.

Rafael Nadal was left shaking his head on Tuesday at the Australian Open after he suffered just his second first-round exit at a Grand Slam championship.

The 2009 champion and fifth seed seed insisted he felt competitive during his five-set loss to fellow Spaniard and left-hander Fernando Verdasco, but could not explain how he had failed to convert practice court form into a match situation.

“The match is a tough one to lose for me obviously,” said Nadal. “It’s not like last year, when I arrived here playing bad and not feeling ready for it. This year was a completely different story. I have been playing and practising great and working so much. It is tough when you work so much and arrived at a very important event and you’re going out too early.

“I know I did everything that I could to be ready for it. It was not my day. There is no more things to do other than keep practising hard and keep practising the same way that I have been doing for the past four, five months.”

Nadal led 2-0 in the fifth set, but Verdasco reeled off six games for a 7-6(6), 4-6, 3-6, 7-6(4), 6-2 in four hours and 41 minutes.

“In terms of being competitive, I was competitive,” said Nadal, who is now 14-3 lifetime against Verdasco. “In terms of creating damage to the opponent with my forehand, I didn’t. So I was hitting forehands, and he was able to keep hitting winners. [It] cannot happen when I am hitting my forehand… That was the biggest issue for me today.

“I was not enough aggressive with my forehand during the whole match. I didn’t feel it. I tried. I fought. I was ready to do it, [but] I didn’t… [But] I don’t know [one] hundred per cent the reason, to be honest.”

The only other time that Nadal had lost in the first round of a Grand Slam champion was at Wimbledon 2013, when he lost to Belgium’s Steve Darcis.

“I play majors the same way I play other tournaments all the year,” said Nadal. “All my life, I have played every tournament by putting all that I have there… I try my best in every single match of the year. That’s it. Sometimes you have success; sometimes you do not. Today it is obvious that I didn’t.

“He played so aggressive, and the serve was huge for him today. I just [want to] congratulate him because he deserved [it], and I wish him all the best for the rest of the tournament.”

Seven years ago, Verdasco arrived in Melbourne having spent the off-season working with Andre Agassi’s former trainer, Gil Reyes. In the best shape of his life, he swept into the Australian Open semi-finals, but was unable to get the better of Nadal in a five-set loss. At five hours and 14 minutes, it was the second-longest match (in terms of duration) in the championship’s history.

He’s waited seven years, but revenge tasted sweet for Fernando Verdasco on Tuesday night in Melbourne as he stunned Rafael Nadal 7-6(6), 4-6, 3-6, 7-6(4), 6-2 in four hours and 41 minutes in the first round of the Australian Open.

On the very same court, Rod Laver Arena, in 2009, Verdasco had been on the losing end of a five-hour, 14-minute marathon against Nadal in the semi-finals that lingered into the Melbourne night — the longest match in Australian Open history at that time.

It looked as though Nadal would once again edge his countryman in the decider as he assumed a 2-0 lead in the fifth. But Verdasco reeled off the last six games to claim a memorable victory.

“I was just closing my eyes and everything went in!” Verdasco told Jim Courier an on-court interview for the host broadcaster. “In the fourth set I started serving better than the second and third. He started playing less deep and strong. I started coming inside the court, being aggressive and it went well.

“Winning against Rafa in five sets here, coming from two sets to one down, is an unbelievable feeling.”

When Verdasco took the more-than-hour-long first set in a tight tie-break, fans figured they might be in for another match for the ages. Nadal, the No. 5 seed, stormed back with service breaks in the third and ninth games of the second set, and added another to open the third in moving ahead two sets to one.

Verdasco would break Nadal to kick off the fourth set and even had a chance to serve out the set 5-4. But Nadal would battle back to force a tie-break. However, Verdasco found the range on his forehand again and bullied Nadal into submission as he took the match into a decider.

It is the first time in 11 visits that Nadal has suffered a first-round exit at Melbourne Park. The 29 year old has a 45-10 tournament record, lifting the trophy in 2009 (d. Federer) and finishing runner-up in 2012 (l. to Djokovic) and 2014 (l. to Wawrinka).

Verdasco goes on to face Dudi Sela in the second round.