Lleyton Hewitt, 34 and held together for years by the expertise of surgeons, played his 53rd and final singles match at Queen’s on Monday, 17 years after his first, and was embraced in noble defeat by a long standing ovation at one of the game’s most exclusive clubs. It didn’t make him cry but it made a lot of people smile.
Hewitt blew a match point in the second set, which he later attributed to “a flipped forehand”, before the 6ft 8in South African they call “The Dog”, Kevin Anderson, broke him for the fourth time from seven chances to win 6-7, 7-5, 6-2 in two hours and 20 minutes. The dwindling score on Hewitt’s side of the ledger was a fair indication of the grinding nature of the match.
It was a suitably grand farewell for the Australian, who has mellowed over the years into a crowd favourite after hanging on to his teenage tendencies longer than some.
A baseball cap turned backwards on his fiery head, he arrived here as a brash, baggy-shorted 17-year-old in 1998 before going on to captivate audiences with a game of high intensity and no little invective, some of it woefully misdirected until maturity cloaked his sore but solid shoulders.
At Queen’s he won four titles, all of them loudly, to move alongside his compatriot Roy Emerson, Boris Becker, John McEnroe and Andy Roddick. In his first final, in 2000, he beat Pete Sampras, who was still near the peak of his powers. It was one of “Rusty’s” greatest performances.
He liked playing on grass but never made it easy for himself in an era of serve-volleyers, trusting his extraordinary defence from deep to wear down opponents. It was rarely pretty, never dull. Against Anderson he played fantastically well for more than an hour.
It was only his 12th defeat here, a record many will struggle to equal, but there is a little more to come, including doubles with his young compatriot Thanasi Kokkinakis. Then he heads for Wimbledon – where he won in 2002 – for another valedictory opportunity and while his chances of reaching the second week for the first time in five years are slim, Hewitt will leave there to more heartfelt cheers.
Hewitt may play the US Open but says his priority before his last slam, the Australian Open in January, is the Davis Cup, a week after Flushing Meadows – and where the semi-final opponent will be either France or Great Britain.
For someone who was so single-minded when young, Hewitt has become the eminence grise of Australian tennis, proud and willing to nurture a small group of players who may one day emulate him.
“I have prepared my whole life,” he said. “Now I can sit back and just chill out for a bit, enjoy, not having to set an alarm and go to the gym and do all the small things.
“I’ll be helping out Australian tennis in some way. I have tried to help out Bernie Tomic the last couple of years, and I have a good relationship with Nick Kyrgios and know Thanasi really well – we are playing doubles here and at Wimbledon. I feel like I have a really good connection with those guys.” It is probably not a thought that would have occurred to him 17 years ago.
Milos Raonic, the world No8, came from one set down to beat James Ward 5-7, 6-3, 6-2 in their first-round match. The Canadian, who reached the Wimbledon semi-final last year, was playing for the first time since undergoing foot surgery and started slowly against the British No3, although he sharpened up as the contest went on.
