As anticipated from a Lleyton Hewitt match, the 30-year-old took some time to grind out a 7-5 6-4 3-6 7-5 first-round victory against little-known Cedrik-Marcel Stebe of Germany on Tuesday night.
That Hewitt spent nearly four hours on court hardly seemed unusual, not even considering he was playing Stebe, a guy that some would say would be only recognisable to his mutti (mom) and vati (dad) back in Vaihingen an der Enz, Germany.
Hewitt, a former US Open (2001) and Wimbledon (2002) champion, is playing in a record 16th consecutive Australian Open courtesy of a wildcard. His ranking has plummeted to No.181 after a left ankle injury, followed by a chronic foot injury, kept him to a light schedule of 11 events in 2011.
It is not surprising Hewitt’s body has broken down considering the physically demanding brand of tennis he’s played. It’s also not surprising that at this stage of his career he’s constantly asked about retirement.
There are those who wonder why he keeps on. The legendary John McEnroe, who chatted with the media at the official draw last Friday, is not one of those who questions why Hewitt’s still in it. McEnroe remembers being in a similar situation of wanting to end a storied career in a way that provides comfort and peace of mind. Translation: top players want to leave the game on their own terms.
So to all those pushing Hewitt to the exit door – not so fast. After the match, Hewitt told former Australian Open champion Jim Courier in an on-court interview that he’s not ready to join him in the commentary booth.
Fans might not know when Hewitt will walk away from the game, but they do know if he walks on court he’ll never give up in a match. He plays to win and if he goes down, he goes down swinging.
When Courier asked him how he pulled out the match in four sets after trailing Stebe 2-5 in that final set, Hewitt responded honestly: “I’m not sure. I hung in there. I kept making him play.”
Every set was a struggle against the No.83-ranked Stebe, playing in only his second career Grand Slam tournament. The 21-year-old’s yet to win a match at a major.
Ahead by two sets, Hewitt appeared poised to close out the match in three. But Stebe had other intentions.
The German played himself back into the match and was in position to send it to a decisive fifth set. But he crumbled and failed to serve out the fourth set in the eighth and 10th games. Hewitt fought back to eventually score on a second match point on Stebe’s serve in the 12th game when the German netted a forehand.
For now, Hewitt is happy to be into the second round where he’ll square off against a familiar foe in the No.16-ranked Andy Roddick. The two have played 13 times with Roddick holding a slim 7-6 lead in their head-to-head competition. The one time they played here at the Australian Open was in the 2005 semifinal that Hewitt won in four sets. It’s also worth noting Hewitt has the upper-hand when it comes to meetings at the Grand Slams – he leads that contest with a 3-2 margin.
Having just come off the court following the three hour, 58 minute battle, Hewitt had not had time or the inclination to turn his attention to playing Roddick.
“I haven’t even thought about it yet,” Hewitt said. “Obviously when the draw came out I knew that Andy was a possibility. But, you know, I haven’t played that [many] matches, so all my focus was on this guy. I knew nothing about him really going into tonight.”
One thing Hewitt did know about the upcoming match against Roddick – he was hoping the crowd support for him would be similar to the way they lifted him when facing Stebe.
“Yeah, it’s fantastic,” said Hewitt, of the way the crowd cheered for him. “The crowd really lifted towards the end of the fourth set there when I started to get back into that set.
“Feelings like that you can’t buy. Until you’re one of the players out there experiencing it, it is a massive adrenaline rush.”