The best of the decade: Top male tennis players – Part 8
The competition has gotten even stiffer now and it’s becoming harder and harder for us to determine who makes it to our list and who gets which spot. And now the time has come for us to reveal our Holy Trinity. These three men are the who’s who of the tennis
world. Their achievements have immortalized them in sporting history and they will be remembered long after they are done and gone.
Number 3 – Lleyton Hewitt
On the third spot on our list we find the Aussie powerhouse, Lleyton Hewitt. The feisty young star first came into focus in 1998 when he came out of nowhere to win the first ATP singles title of his career and defeated much more experienced players like
Andre Agassi in the process.
He was 17 at the time and consequently became the youngest winner of the professional event since the early eighties, when Michael Chang and Aaron Krickstein held the same honour. Hewitt really hit the jackpot when he claimed four titles in 2000. Through
his superb and consistent performance he became the first teenager in the history of the event to have qualified for the end of the season ATP Masters Cup.
The following year turned out to be the Australian’s most successful season when he grabbed 6 titles, a tour leading figure. The year’s beginning saw the player defending his Sydney title and then he went on to perform exceptionally and earn his career's
first Masters Series victory in Indian Wells.
The Outback tennis star held back to back grass-court titles, Hewitt was being considered as the strongest contender at the All England Lawn Tennis Club. Although there was still quite some time to go before the title glory could be achieved, Hewitt went
on to win a US hard-court event in Scottsdale and sent a loud and clear message about his intentions about the last Grand Slam event of the season. The Aussie claimed his maiden major title win in New York by beating tennis giants like Pete Sampras and Yevgeny
Kafelnikov. He thus became one of the youngest players to have won the season’s last Grand Slam event. His season ending triumph at the ATP Masters Cup, which had eluded him previously, left him elated and eager for the new season to win.
The new season saw him passing even greater milestones as predicted. He was able to clinch the fist Master Series win in Indian Wells. However, his disappointing performance during the next two events in Melbourne and Paris, left many questioning whether
what the youngster had been experiencing was beginners luck and whether he would ever be able to claim another title in his career or not?
But it seemed like Lady Luck was shinning bright over the Australians head and he effectively put an end to all the speculation by winning his first ever Wimbledon title by defeating David Nalbandian. The player kept putting his superior form on display
game after game but he seemed to lose all his pizzaz as soon as the US Open came around. Hewitt was not able to defend his title in the tournament and lost a nail-biter of a match to Andre Agassi at Flushing Meadows.
Fortunately, Hewitt did not stay down for long and got his game together in time to win a second ATP Masters Cup. He beat Juan Carlos Ferrero for the honour and as a result of his win finished, for the second consecutive year, at the Number 1 spot of the
listings.
In 2003, the Australian's career graph began resembling a roller coaster ride more than anything else. He disappointed the audiences again by not being able to perform in the home Grand Slam. And again he seemed to pick up his momentum and defended his Indian
Wells crown successfully and that too by beating Gustavo Kuerten, a clay court specialist. Down he went again after this brief respite; he performed poorly at both Paris and Wimbledon, which includes a shell-shocking first round exit at the hands of Ivo Karlovic.
This loss cost him his Number 1 title as well, which now went to the American Andre Agassi.
The years that followed were full of mixed results from the player; when he was good he was exceptional and when he was going through one of his bad spells it seemed like he had just picked up the racquet a day ago. A fun fact about the player is that he
also became the first man in sporting history to have lost to an eventual winner in all four Grand Slams, by losing to Roger Federer in all the four major events.
His only tournament win in 2004 came in Sydney, which brought his title count up to four. His memorable final finishes at both the Wimbledon and the US Open, earned him a spot at the ATP Masters Cup. But it was simply not meant to be and the player withdrew
from the event to be with his wife instead who was due to give birth. 2007 proved to be a bad year for the Champ because of several injuries and 2008 became the only year since 1997 that he remained winless. Although 2009 brought only one win his way, he gave
very spirited performances at both the Wimbledon and US Open.
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