With the Australian Open in full swing, talk always turns in the first week to Lleyton Hewitt and his chances for finally winning his country’s Grand Slam. In some ways, it parallels Great Britain’s hopes for Andy Murray at Wimbledon.
But comparisons to Murray and Hewitt end especially given that Hewitt is now 28 and despite getting almost back into the top twenty, not many are giving him a chance to win the AO. He most likely will get past American qualifier Donald Young today, but Hewitt would then face a potential meeting with Marcos Baghdatis, whom he lost to in Sydney, and then possibly Roger Federer in the fourth round.
Hewitt is one of those players who, although respected, was one of those guys who seemed to rub people, even in Australia, the wrong way. As he’s gotten older, a certain sentimental factor among fans naturally creeps in when he plays, but since he won Wimbledon and the U.S. Open early on, it’s easy to say Hewitt not winning another Slam won’t be that big a deal.
Hewitt certainly could crawl back into the top 15 or even top 10, but the question is this — will Hewitt be content hanging around for a couple of years but never making a dent into the top tier? My feeling is he won’t especially if his body starts breaking down again. He’s too much of a fighter and won’t be content to just fade away. But when would his final “blast of glory” take place? If you think the women have a hard time saying goodbye, just wait when Hewitt and even Roddick have to face that moment in their careers.
What do you think?
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