What next for Lleyton Hewitt?
Roar Rookie By hardsy, 26 Jun 2011 hardsy is a Roar Rookie
- Tagged:
- Bernard Tomic, Lleyton Hewitt, Robin Soderling, Tennis, Wimbledon, Wimbledon 2011
There was no official handover ceremony, or exchange of gifts, but Wimbledon 2011 now marks the changing of the guard for Australian tennis.
Love him or hate him, Lleyton Hewitt has been the soul representative for Australia on the ever competitive men’s tour.
Two sets to up against number five seed Robin Soderling, the Australian media were frothing at the mouth with the prospect of a Hewitt-Tomic match-up – the young versus old, all knew the tension between the two camps. With the right publicity this would make the Mundine-Green rivalry look like a street fight.
Someone forgot to tell robotic Swede Soderling about the potential match-up, fighting back in Hewitt-like fashion to ruin the great Aussie match. So what now for Hewitt and Tomic?
Tomic has lived in a bubble like existence, under the strict guidance of his family. Tomic was always going to be a tennis prodigy. Most things will remain the same for Bernard, he will get better, stronger and more experienced.
Tomic will hopefully break into the top 50 in the next 24 months, and will steadily progress. The biggest change for Bernard will be his month of January, now he has received the baton from Lleyton he will hold a nation’s hopes to break the 35-year Edmondson drought, the most talked about curse since the Collywobbles throughout the 70s and 80s.
While the future is clear and bright for Tomic, it’s a little more clouded for Hewitt. The mind is willing, but the body is starting to have a few doubts, injuries are starting to catch up with his taxing all round court game. A smart move into the commentary box last summer paid off for Lleyton, seemingly to win back the public support he has lost through various incidents through his career. Hewitt still has a burning desire to compete with the best in the world, which may be his downfall in the end.
My advice to Lleyton would be to partake in a John Farnham ‘farewell tour’ – with no comebacks. The 2012 season would be a celebration of what he has achieved, but would also challenge the former number one. I would hand-select 8-12 (body/ranking dependent) tournaments.
A final tilt on home soil after that elusive Australian Open would begin the year, then his focus would turn to a Wimbledon farewell. This could be seen as a strange call to retire midway through the season, but Wimbledon is the Mecca for all things tennis; and as a past champion there would be no greater place to end his stellar career.
During the next few months Hewitt would take a few months off, then continue his budding media career. Competitive urges would most likely get the better of Hewitt over time, so body willing he would be running around in the lucrative Masters circuit.
Lleyton Hewitt has polarised the tennis community in Australia, but no matter what he decides, he will be remembered as a Wimbledon champion and tennis great.
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The Crowd Says (11) | Page 1 of Comments
Have Your Say
- Explore:
- Bernard Tomic, Lleyton Hewitt, Robin Soderling, Tennis, Wimbledon, Wimbledon 2011
June 26th 2011 @ 11:55am
jamesb said | June 26th 2011 @ 11:55am | Report comment
What next for Lleyton Hewitt?
Retire, and help the next generation of Australian tennis players
Could have a career as a commentator
June 26th 2011 @ 5:12pm
Lefty said | June 26th 2011 @ 5:12pm | Report comment
Why on earth should he retire??? He’s only 30 and is still capable of beating anyone if he can stay fit. I get so sick of these dumb “retire!” calls. With Hewitt and Tomic together, maybe we can win back some Davis Cup respect – that’s what you couch champions should be thinking.
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June 26th 2011 @ 8:17pm
jamesb said | June 26th 2011 @ 8:17pm | Report comment
so helping the next generation of australian tennis players is a bad idea lefty
June 26th 2011 @ 6:08pm
Claire said | June 26th 2011 @ 6:08pm | Report comment
Capable of beating anyone when fit? Even IF that was true – and that’s a pretty big if – staying fit is part of being a professional athlete. Blaming his constant injury is like blaming his weak-as serve.
June 26th 2011 @ 9:00pm
Lefty said | June 26th 2011 @ 9:00pm | Report comment
He’s already helping the next generation – Tomic just got good advice to beat Soderling. Beat anyone? Yes, he beat Federer at Halle just a year ago. And when I say “fit”, I obviously mean “free from injury”. His fitness work has never been questioned and he has never used injury as an excuse.
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June 26th 2011 @ 9:05pm
Matt F said | June 26th 2011 @ 9:05pm | Report comment
The nature of tennis, being an individual sport means the decision is completely up to him. Unlike team sports he has no obligation to teammates or anyone else so the short answer is he should retire when he wants to. He’s shown over the past few years that, when fit, he can still match it in the big tournaments. He can’t win those tournaments but he can still beat players around 20-30 and thats still respectable. the problem is that he can’t get his body right but if he wants to keep fighting then good on him. I’d imagine there’s still a few things he wants to achieve (such as getting australia back into the world group in davis cup) before he goes.
June 27th 2011 @ 12:49am
amazonfan said | June 27th 2011 @ 12:49am | Report comment
Exactly. Plus, if he still enjoys it, he should continue to play as long as he can. Jim Courier recently recommended that Hewitt keep playing, should he continue to enjoy it, and he was an example of a player who continued even after he ceased as a major GS threat.
July 4th 2011 @ 3:19pm
akaba said | July 4th 2011 @ 3:19pm | Report comment
Well said.
June 26th 2011 @ 9:19pm
jamesb said | June 26th 2011 @ 9:19pm | Report comment
“He’s already helping the next generation – Tomic just got good advice to beat Soderling”
thats what i mean lefty. his advice and experience in sharing his info to the young players like tomic and a couple of others would be valuable.
my guess is he”ll give it away after the london olympics or us open 2012. lets not forget hewitts been playing at the top level when he was 15 or 16, a long time at that level.
June 26th 2011 @ 10:29pm
Lefty said | June 26th 2011 @ 10:29pm | Report comment
Yeah, it is a long time. It’s amazing he never seems to have ever lost any passion for it, despite the injuries, surgery, etc. He’s a helluva competitor and if the body can possibly hold, I reckon he may still pack a few surprises.
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June 26th 2011 @ 10:38pm
hardsy said | June 26th 2011 @ 10:38pm | Report comment
I think another 12months will see him through. He is still young but circuit is getting longer and tougher each year. I don’t want to see Lleyton rely on wildcard entries to keep playing in the top tournaments. Injuries aside, 14 years on the tour are starting to take their toll and others would have given up. Mentally Hewitt could probably play for 3/4 more years, but I think Aus open, Wimbledon and London should be his curtain call.