Tennis bids farewell to two-time Grand Slam champion Lleyton Hewitt after defeat at his 20th Australian Open

• Lleyton Hewitt’s singles career came to an end at the hands of David Ferrer at the Australian Open on Thursday
• Former world no. 1 Hewitt received tributes from his opponent and fellow players on Rod Laver Arena

Lleyton Hewitt’s storied career as a tennis player came to an emotional end on Thursday at his 20th Australian Open.

In front of a packed house on Rod Laver Arena, the two-time Grand Slam champion and still the youngest man to be ranked world no. 1 battled gamely against eighth seed David Ferrer, but was unable to extend his career for one more match, losing 2–6, 4–6, 4–6 to end his singles career.

‘It wasn’t to be. I feel like I was always playing catch-up throughout the sets, which was hard,’ Hewitt said.

Runner-up at the Australian Open in 2005, 34-year-old Hewitt wasn’t always well liked towards the beginning of his career, but he has been increasingly embraced by the tennis public as well as his peers as time went on. And while Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Andy Murray and Nick Kyrgios all praised ‘Rusty’ and wished him well in a special video played after the match, the most unexpected and touching tribute might have come from Ferrer himself — a man never comfortable in the spotlight or when expressing himself in English, but who found precisely the right words to summarize Hewtt’s impact on the sport as he described how he owns one T-shirt signed by a tennis player, a shirt signed by Hewitt eight years ago.

‘I never had idols, but Lleyton is one for me,’ Ferrer said.

Ferrer, who described Hewitt as a ‘mirror of me’ in his post-match press conference, was in some ways the perfect player to retire the Australian from his playing career. Like Hewitt, Ferrer is a consummate professional who has maximized his talent and physical abilities and whose commitment and fighting spirit on the sport are second to none. And although they are almost the same age — Ferrer, at 33, is the younger by a year — Ferrer can be seen as one of the players inspired by Hewitt’s example when he demonstrated with his breakthrough success at an early age that a baseline game could be incredibly effective on all surfaces.

‘He is one of the best players of the history. His performance this Australian Open, it was very good, playing a really good tennis. ‘So I played a very good match for win tonight, and in that moment, well, I tried play point by point and really focused every point, because I know Lleyton fight until last ball. I know that,’ Ferrer said.

The eighth seed was ruthless and relentless as Hewitt himself in his prime on Rod Laver Arena, snuffing out any attempts by Hewitt to get into the match and mobilize the passionate home crowd on his behalf. Breaking serve twice to take the opening set in 37 minutes, Ferrer broke again to lead 4–3 in the second set before Hewitt fought back in the finest and most pivotal game of the match — a nine-deuce affair in which the Australian earned seven break points but couldn’t convert on a single one before Ferrer finally held with a backhand winner. It was vintage Hewitt — as was his testy exchange with Pascal Maria, which ended with him calling the umpire a ‘freaking idiot’, after Hewitt took exception to being called for a foot-fault.

Hewitt’s three children join him on the court as he waves goodbye to Rod Laver Arena

If anything could break Hewitt’s spirit, that game would have been it and Ferrer shortly went on to claim the second set, but the US Open and Wimbledon champion wasn’t done. Gutting out a hold from 15–30 in the opening game of the third set, Hewitt surrendered a break but fended off points for a double break and had the Rod Laver Arena crowd roaring as he broke back to get back on serve for 3–3.

The revival was short-lived, however, as Ferrer swiftly re-established his break lead and served out the match to call time on Hewitt’s career as a singles player (the Australian still has doubles on Friday with compatriot Sam Groth, not to mention the new job he has already started as Australia’s Davis Cup captain).

Hewitt tipped a cheeky wink to Ferrer as he walked to the net as if apologizing in advance for the forthcoming ceremonials, but although he confessed afterwards that there may have been a couple of tears, the retiring Australian stayed largely upbeat, especially when his three children joined him for his post-match interview, escorting him off the court (and into his press conference).

‘[T]his month has been awesome. I’ve loved every minute of it. I’ve tried to soak it up and enjoy it as much as possible, but still try and go out there and perform and play well and stay focused,’ Hewitt said.

‘But, you know, I’ve loved every minute of playing for Australia, wearing the green and gold. Not just when we play Davis Cup, I pride myself being on an Australian throughout the year and representing our great country and the love and support that I’ve had throughout my career, but the last few years, has been unbelievable.’