Lleyton Hewitt May Be At The End Of His Davis Cup Career

Written by: Staff on 20th September 2012

Lleyton Hewitt May Be At The End Of His Davis Cup Career

epa03397892 Australia's Lleyton Hewitt returns the ball during the match against Germany's Florian Mayer during the Davis Cup match between Germany and Australia at the Rotherbaum tennis stadium in Hamburg, Germany, 14 September 2012. The Davis Cup matches between Germany and Australia take place between 14-16 September 2012. EPA/DANIEL REINHARDT |

Lleyton Hewitt’s future hangs in the balance as that unbeatable combination of advancing age and increasing fatigue finally seemed to catch up with the former world no.1 as he simply ran out of steam in Australia’s Davis Cup World Group play-offs against Germany.

Hewitt, aged 31 and determined to still serve his nation after two hip surgeries and an operation to place a steel plate in his big toe, heroically tried to play three days in a row but came up short, appearing a mere shadow of his former self losing 6-4 6-1 6-4 world No.127 Cedrik-Marcel Stebe.

Now Todd Woodbridge, Tennis Australia’s Head of Professional Tennis, maintains Hewitt’s future is the player’s to determine and a lot of soul searching needs tbe done over the coming weeks.

Woodbridge was one of several sad Australian spectators of what transpired at Hamburg’s Rothenbaum. “I’m pretty sure Lleyton will go away and really have a heart-to-heart with himself about how he performed,” said the former doubles great.

“I believe that every athlete knows when it’s time, and he will answer that. There are matches and moments in you career where the light goes on and you say ‘you know what, I’m starting to not be as good as I once was’, or ‘I’m still motivated to achieve more’. And that depends on how he reacts.”

Woodbridge was not alone in his assessment. Former Australian Davis Cup captain John Fitzgerald admitted he hated to see Hewitt struggle in the way he did and termed the former US Open and Wimbledon champion, ‘a worn out warrior.’

Present Aussie Davis Cup captain Pat Rafter admitted playing Hewitt on all three days of competition against the Germans on clay was a gamble that backfired.

And Woodbridge continued: “I think probably for the first time, Lleyton struggled with that occasion. He was struggling with his moving, he couldn’t generate enough power, and I guess that court actually exposed a lot of what are Lleyton’s weaknesses now.

“If he is going to keep going, it showed how much he’s probably got to work on a part of his game that he never did, and that’s the movement.

“I still think he’s got a part to play, but I also think perhaps you look now and you go ‘OK, now I’ve got to keep blooding some of the younger ones, that haven’t played before’. It’s a bit like throwing the sheep to the wolves, but it has to be done, and we’ve got to get ready for that to happen. We might lose a match or two because of it, but in the long run it’s going to be beneficial to getting results.”

©Daily Tennis News Wire

Topics: Australian Davis Cup, Australian tenni snews, Cedrik-Marcel Stebe, Davis Cup Germany, Lleyton Hewitt, Sports, Tennis News, Todd Woodbridge