Nadal and Federer Salute Hewitt

Written by: Staff on 22nd January 2012

Nadal and Federer Salute Hewitt

Rafael Nadal of Spain celebrates winning in his men's fourth round match against compatriot Feliciano Lopez at the Australian Open Grand Slam tennis tournament in Melbourne, Australia, 22 January 2012. EPA/HOW HWEE YOUNG |

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Rafael Nadal is well known as a fine sportsman who always gives credit where it is due. And he has been very impressed with the run that Lleyton Hewitt has enjoyed and the qualities he has shown at the Australian Open.

“I admire him a lot,” said the Spaniard. “I think he deserve all the respect of the people who love this sport and respect and admiration of everyone, because after having, I don’t know how many, five surgeries, six surgeries, something like this, keep having the, you know, the motivation to run, to fight every ball. Even if the body don’t have the perfect answer, is something fantastic.

“I was yesterday at the hotel watching the match, last set, and even if I have a good relationship with Raonic, his coach is from Spain so I am close to him, you know, I really get emotional when he finished. He goes to the floor. He was really showing out his emotions, so is something fantastic at this moment of his career after having fantastic career, you know, keep having this motivation and this illusion to win a third-round match. That’s unbelievable.

“So I wish him all the best for the rest of the season. I hope his problems will be fine. He’s one of the more charismatic players on tour. I always liked him, his spirit of competition. Today he is an example to follow for a lot people.”

Roger Federer is another who is thrilled to see the Aussie Warrior still out there fighting.

“Yeah, I was happy for Lleyton. I fist pumped when he won yesterday. I was very happy for him,” Federer said. “Look, I’ve had too many tough battles with him, so in some ways you’re happy that you don’t have to face him but you can watch him battle and know for the other guy how it feels and how he can make you feel.

“I was really happy for him, because he hasn’t gotten a fair chance to prove still how good he is. Some judge him on his ranking, which is obviously not telling the truth. I think he’s been playing really well still the last two years. Just didn’t get enough matches and never really got on a roll because he was always interrupted the whole time.”

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Topics: Australian Open, Federer, Hewitt, nadal