Player Profile: Lleyton Hewitt

Lleyton Hewitt is a 25-year-old Australian tennis player, born on February 24, 1981 in Adelaide, South Australia. He is 5 feet 10 inches (180 cm) tall and weighs 180 pounds (77kg). His father was an Australian rules football-player.

He lives in Adelaide. His coach is Roger Rasheed. And he is well supported by the Australian cheer squad The Fanatics. He is currently suffering from a knee injury that will require about five weeks rest.

Though this former World No. 1 could come roaring back to the top of the game at any time, at this point his career seems to have already peaked. His best achievements are winning the 2001 U.S. Open and the 2002 Wimbledon men's singles titles.

An early bloomer, Hewitt was one of the youngest men to win an ATP tournament when, as an unknown 17-year-old, he won the 1998 Adelaide International, defeating Andre Agassi in the semifinals. Only two other players, Aaron Krickstein and Michael Chang (both of the United States) were younger when they claimed their first ATP title.

He rocketed to the top of the game, and on November 19, 2001, at the age of 20, Hewitt became the youngest man ever to be ranked No. 1 in the world.

He held that ranking for 64 weeks until June 16, 2003. Then after two weeks at No. 2, he regained the No. 1 spot for four weeks. However, in 2003, he became the first defending Wimbledon champion to lose in the first round. Since then his highest ranking has been No. 3.

Lleyton improved his serve in 2004 and 2005. Late in 2004, he began devoting much time to weight training and bulking up. Whether that has helped is hard to say, but he did reach the final of a major again, the 2005 Australian Open.

Believe it or not, however, he is the only Australian ranked in the top 100. He is currently ranked No. 15.

Hewitt plays right-handed and has a two-handed backhand. He’s a precision counterpuncher from the baseline. Relentlessly competitive, he has exceptional speed, a solid serve, and an excellent service return. In the power department, Hewitt is quite respectable. In fact, he has no major weaknesses. Lleyton’s groundstrokes are both consistent and placed on a dime. Which may be part of his problem. When you’re playing out of your mind, like he was early in his career, you can flirt with the lines. And if you get lucky on top of it all, you are fooled into thinking that actually have that much control. So, maybe he’s simply not leaving himself enough margin for error today.

Here is terrific point between him and Roger Federer...

A 45-shot point between Lleyton Hewitt and Roger Federer at the Pacific Life Open at Indian Wells, California.

Hewitt's greatest weakness, however, is in his head. The mouthy “bad boy” persona he puts on shows as childishly contentious at times, as though he takes it personally that his opponent is trying to keep him from winning. Is this behavior gamesmanship? Or the manifestation of a truly strange attitude toward competition? In either case, Hewitt gets personal with his fierce competitiveness. He is the epitome of “the raging tennis player,” roaring and fist-pumping AT his opponent, often with a look that could kill. The effect is that of gloating, taunting, intimidating, and personal hostility, which of course has no place in sporting competition.


Is it just a psych job, or does he really feel deprived of his due by someone trying to keep him from winning? Is he oblivious to the impact of his words and actions on the human being across the net?

Here’s some evidence for the oblivious theory: Once, after defeating a fellow Australian in his home town of Adelaide, Hewitt claimed that he could not believe some people in the crowd were cheering for his opponent against him.

"It’s weird," he said. "But it’s the stupidity of the Australian public."

Why is that stupid> Because, he said, they just root "against" the "better players." He felt entitled to their support, because he is from Adelaide.

What does he think people are? Objects that won’t react to that insult just as he would?

But, whether the fist-pumping psych job is calculated or not, like all such psych-jobs, it gets old. It no longer works on his opponents, who have come to expect it of him, just as they came to expect a John-McEnroe fit to interrupt play (till McEnroe deigned to let it continue) at any crucial point in a match. Hewitt’s immaturity expresses itself in things like blaming the fans, the surface, and the linespeople for his failures.

Oddly, most of his crude behavior just gets him publicity and admiration from a fan base of people who love to imagine themselves as free of the stifling restraints of political correctness as a Hollywood star or sports hero is. Through players like Hewitt, they get to vicariously “cross the border” and let ‘er rip by acting out without fear of censure.

Once, however, he stepped in it by saying something that the captious press in its hunt for controversy could play the race card on. Secure in the knowledge that the odds would be a million to one, everyone mobbed up on cue to show how non-racist they are by attacking him. Which is just as sickening as racism.

Here's the story: In a match at the US Open against the American James Blake (who is black) Hewitt asked to have a black linesperson removed, because that linesperson had called two foot faults on him. Microphones overheard him saying:

Look at him. Look at him and you tell me what the similarity is. Just get him off the court.

Sounds like a mealy-mouthed accusation of racism to me, not racism. What? If a black accuses a white of racism, the white is guilty of racism, but if a white accuses a black of racism, the white is still guilty of racism? Absurd.

In any case, we can’t be sure what he meant. You can’t jump on a few vague words like that uttered in the heat of the battle, because at such a moment things don’t always come out the way they’re meant. And Hewitt didn’t have to say exactly why he wanted the linesperson removed: he was entitled to just ask that a linesperson he had lost confidence in be removed. That linesperson was removed.

The tournament referee, Brian Earley, was exactly right:

"There was no gesture in the direction of Mr. Blake when he made the comments about 'the similarities,'" Earley said. "He did not use Mr. Blake's name. He didn't say 'my opponent.' He made no reference to Mr. Blake. ...

"Whether it's misconstrued or not, I can't tell you. I only can say that I would have to draw conclusions from what I see and what I hear that he was definitely making a racist remark. And I can't do that."

Hewitt himself denied any racist intent.

James Blake didn’t make a big deal of it. He played down the incident, saying he gave Hewitt the benefit of the doubt because the remark was made in the heat of the battle. And he said he was sure the referee was calling it honestly as he saw it.

Besides, Hewitt was probably accusing the linesperson of racism. Perhaps frivolously -- just to blame somebody else for his foot faults. If so, that isn't racism, but it is obnoxious to falsely accuse people of things. The whole incident is no worse than things Hewitt does that people excuse as “boys being boys.” Indeed, taunting his opponents and looking at them as though he hates them, calling the Australian people “stupid,” and calling a disabled umpire a “spastic” are abusive and therefore more offensive.

The man simply has no respect for other people of any stripe. That is a personality problem.

He had a four-year relationship with Belgian tennis player Kim Clijsters. The two announced their engagement just before Christmas 2003 but broke up in October 2004 for secret reasons. On January 30, 2005, after dating her for but six weeks, he proposed to Australian actress Bec Cartwright, marrying her less than five months later in July. Their first child was born in November. He carefully keeps her from photographers and sells the image rights to her.

In January 2006, he was voted the 10th most-hated athlete in the USA.

He is a man who cannot get enough attention. It is nirvana to him. He prefers admiration, but he will go for negative attention in lieu of positive. Hence, he is also a charmer to win admiration, fabulously gracious and polite with fans and well-wishers. He loves signing autographs and will sign no end of them. His wedding was in a public place, the Opera House, and charged admission, blocking the view of the non-paying public with curtains! In short, he is a man who basks in the glow of all this attention like Bill Clinton does. And like Clinton, he has a hair-trigger temper that will throw an unexpected tantrum the moment things aren’t going according to his script.

It goes without saying then that his opponents should deny him attention. No eye contact, no reaction to anything. Act as though he isn't there. Also, never do what he wants, what he's playing you to do. Instead do anything but. Refuse to follow his script.

Lleyton loves to play for his country in Davis Cup competition and has amassed more Davis Cup victories than any other Australian.

The Australian Open is the championship he desires most. He could make a comeback in 2007. Though he seems no threat Roger Federer or Raphael Nadal, Hewitt could make it back into the top ten. We shall just have to wait and see whether he gets his head together and makes the necessary changes in his game. Keep up with latest about him here and here.