ATP: "Rusty's" emotional journey - Lleyton Hewitt inducted into the "Hall of Fame".
Former Australian number one Lleyton Hewitt was inducted into the tennis "Hall of Fame" in Newport on Saturday (local time).
by Stefan Bergmann
last edit:
Jul 17, 2022, 01:55 pm
Traditionally, during the hosting of the ATP World Tour 250 lawn tournament in Newport, players who have made outstanding contributions to the sport of tennis in the past are also inducted into the "Hall of Fame", which is located in the adjacent Newport Casino. This year, ex-world number one Lleyton Hewitt was delighted to receive this highly esteemed honor.
The Australian was correspondingly emotional during the tribute, which was attended by his family and friends, as well as numerous companions and opponents at the time. "The 'Hall of Fame' seemed like something so far away from ever being a part of," Hewitt said during the induction ceremony. "It was never something I ever thought about as a player and it was always something for me that was meant for my idols and the absolute legends."
A great one between the generations
The 41-year-old from Adelaide once wanted to be an Australian football player like his father. However, his parents noticed the boy's talent early on and, despite several resistances, organized professional training for "Rusty", as Hewitt was often called during his later tennis career. Legend has it that when trainer Darren Cahill first saw Hewitt, he saw a certain resemblance to Russel "Rusty" Griswold - the son of the well-known "Griswold" film series starring Chevy Chase.
In particular, the man from "down under" emphasized that he enjoyed being able to compete with several generations of tennis players: "I got to stand on the same courts as my heroes I looked up to, like Andre Agassi and Pete Sampras, to then measure myself against the three greatest tennis players our sport has ever seen: Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic."
Lleyton Hewitt won two Grand Slam tournaments in his career (US Open 2001, Wimbledon 2002), triumphed twice at the ATP Finals (2001, 2002) and was number one in the ATP world rankings for a total of 80 weeks.