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The Roar

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Why does everybody hate Lleyton?

22nd January, 2012
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22nd January, 2012
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He’s had a stellar career spanning more than a decade and should be regarded as one Australia’s greatest ever sportsmen, yet Lleyton Hewitt isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, and there is no shortage of Australians that will be happy to see the back of him.

So why is it that Hewitt grates so much on the Australian public?

Don’t get me wrong – when the 30-year-old South Australian steps onto Rod Laver Arena tonight for his fourth-round matchup with Novak Djokovic, he’ll do so to rapturous applause from a sold-out crowd and a captivated audience watching on television.

But as his decorated career reaches its twilight, it is fair to say that Lleyton will never be remembered with the same adulation as the US Open winner that came before him, the darling of the Australian public, Pat Rafter.

There are plenty of Australian sports fans who will grit their teeth and curse at the very mention of Hewitt’s name, and we all know a Lleyton hater or two. Maybe you are one yourself.

You know the type. They “just hate Lleyton Hewitt”, and quite often they’ll spit forth a stream of vitriol about how he is “too old and pathetic” and “should just give it up”.

It is school of thought that I’ve found increasingly disagreeable, and when I question a ‘hater’, they often fail to back up their initial tirade with any form of solid reasoning.

So let’s examine whether or not Lleyton does in fact warrant such a scathingly harsh reception.

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Lleyton burst onto our television screens as a precociously talented teenage tennis prodigy in the late ’90s, and from his brash, immatures beginnings, has never been shy of dishing out a verbal lashing, be it to an umpire, linesman or errant journalist.

If there is anyone who befits the cliche ‘wears his heart on his sleeve’, it is Lleyton, and I’ll put my hand up and admit that I cringe when I see his “C’mon!” off an opponent’s unforced error.

But outwardly displaying passion in the heat of the contest is hardly a crime and if we look back on his career, I’d argue that hating on Lleyton is that nasty word that the AHA throws at us so much these days: un-Australian.

Lleyton blossomed from a talented teen into a genuine superstar in 2001, when he wiped World No. 1 Yevgeny Kafelnikov and then five-time US Open champion Pete Sampras off the court in the semi and final respectively to claim his first grand slam title.

He became World No. 1 himself at the end of the year after also reaching the quarter-finals of the French Open and a year later, became Wimbledon champion – something Pat Rafter was never able to acheive – after sweeping aside David Nalbandian in straight sets.

In 2003 he led Australia to Davis Cup glory after recording epic five-set wins over Roger Federer in the semi-final, and then Juan Carlos Ferrero to seal the trophy for Australia. The Davis Cup win was another feat that evaded Rafter.

But since 2003 Lleyton has become an afterthought in the world of men’s tennis, as the gigantic shadows of Federer, Rafael Nadal and now Djokovic have dwarfed that of Hewitt, despite him reaching the 2005 Australian Open final, which he lost to Marat Safin.

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In a world dominated by the power of Nadal and the grace of Federer, there has been little room for Hewitt to get anywhere near a third grand slam title.

And here is where the hating of Lleyton becomes un-Australian.

He’s not blessed with a booming serve or a sweeping forehand, but what has enabled Lleyton to keep competing at major tournaments are the very characteristics that we routinely label as ‘Australian’.

Season after season Lleyton has punished his body running for balls he had no right to return, displaying an unwavering tenacity to compete against younger, more talented opponents, and fighting all the way until the final point, even in defeat.

He came into this year’s Australian Open off the back off a meek first-round exit from the Sydney International after surrendering in three sets to Victor Troicki, and it looked like it would be a short stay at Melbourne Park.

There was no reason for Lleyton to turn up; with nearly US$20m in prizemoney and countless of millions more in endorsements, money is in no way shape or form the motivating factor.

With the likes of Djokovic, Federer and Nadal in the field, Hewitt was the slimmest of slim chances of even getting near the final.

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It is the desire that continues to burn deep within Hewitt, long after critics say he should be retired.

He was able to grind out a four-sets victory against unheralded German Cedrik-Marcel Stebe, before getting a slice of fortune when second-round opponent Andy Roddick was crippled with a hamstring injury.

But he had absolutely no right to oust big-serving Canadian Milos Raonic on Saturday night, and yet Hewitt was able to wind back the effects of Father Time and utterly dominate after losing the first set.

There won’t be a fairytale finish; he faces Novak Djokovic tonight and he’ll have done extremely well to even take a set from the Serbian superstar.

Yet he is there, and he competes. And instead of lampooning him for it, we should be lauding him.

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