Lleyton Hewitt Wants to be Davis Cup Captain Some Day

Written by: Staff on 7th December 2011

Lleyton Hewitt Wants to be Davis Cup Captain Some Day

Australia's Lleyton Hewitt in action against Switzerland's Stanislas Wawrinka during their Davis Cup world group play-off in Sydney, 18 September 2011. Play was suspended shortly before 6pm due to low light. EPA/DEAN LEWINS AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND OUT, EDITORIAL USE ONLY |

Lleyton Hewitt has revealed that he has set his sights on eventually becoming captain of Australia’s Davis Cup team.

Few players have matched the passion and commitment that the ageing Aussie has shown to the premier team competition, and he is even prepared to serve as an ‘apprentice’ until the position currently held by Pat Rafter becomes available.

“At some stage, absolutely, I’d love to be Davis Cup captain,” Hewitt said at the Newcombe Medal Awards. “Obviously I’d like to keep playing a bit more, and help Pat out. Pat and Rochey (coach Tony Roche) are a fantastic team. If I can take over from Pat in a few years . . . we’ve never actually spoken about it, but he’s probably not going to do it for a lifetime.”

Before he moves on the next stage of his career, though, the 30-year old is hoping to put recent injury frustrations behind him and keep plodding the circuit. He returns to the courts next month at the Hopman Cup, will play in Sydney for whom he has taken on the role of tournament ambassador, and he has received a wild card into the Australian Open, where his greatest success was in reaching the 2005 final before losing to Marat Safin.

“This year’s been frustrating, with the foot injury, and the rest of my body feels great, so that’s probably even more frustrating,” Hewitt admitted. “If I was breaking down in a lot of different areas then you can sort of put up with it, but if I can get over this foot injury, I feel great at the moment. In terms of my ball-striking, it’s as good as it’s been in a long time.”