Lleyton Hewitt is 33 years old, but not a Roger Federer 33. Hewitt has had had five serious surgeries in six years starting in 2008. Most recently, his entire left big toe has been rebuilt. Federer has never gone under the knife, although I've heard he once had to take two aspirin for a stomachache.
Hewitt has spiraled down to No. 87 in the rankings, while Federer is the toast of the town, perched at No 2. While Federer's guttural shouts of "Come on!" resound across the courts, it's getting harder and harder for Hewitt to bend and pull the starter cord on that famous imaginary lawn mower.
But if all that is supposed to discourage or make the quintessential "Aussie battler" feel humiliated, you'd never know it. Hewitt, whose nickname, "Rusty," is now better employed to define the state of his joints come the morning after a match, played his 19th consecutive Australian Open this week. Despite squandering a two-set lead against Benjamin Becker in the second round, don't for a moment assume that he doesn't think he has a shot at winning. As he said in his news conference the other day:
"I've said it so many times: It's a matter of trying to get through the first week of a Grand Slam. Doesn't matter how you do it, but you have to try to find a way of getting through that -- put yourself in a position in the second week. Yeah, anything can happen in Grand Slams."
He's a hard case, this Hewitt. He's seen the elephant, but he keeps returning to the circus anyway. After the match, Hewitt reiterated that he hasn't given much thought to his future but that he would be around to help Australia in Davis Cup. He's been No. 1 in the world and owns two Grand Slam singles titles. His Davis Cup record is one of the finest in the history of the competition (he's a dazzling 56-18 overall). That's for starters.
For years, Hewitt carried the entire weight of the Australian continent's hopes on his sloped shoulders, yet he's never really been loved -- at least not until now, which might help explain why he continues to soldier on.
That would be the nice, romantic way to look at it, but the reality is probably slightly different. Hewitt soldiers on because that is what guys like Lleyton Hewitt do. It really isn't all that complicated.
Still, it's nice to know that the years when Hewitt was nothing less than a pariah are past. In 2001, Hewitt became the first Australian to finish the year at No. 1 on the ATP computer, as well as the youngest player ever to do so. Yet all that, along with his close approximation of the national stereotype (blond, blue-eyed, rather good on a surfboard) at a time when the full emphasis on diversity had yet to kick in, wasn't enough to win the love of his countrymen, never mind the rest of us.
Granted, Hewitt brought much of the antipathy on himself. He was combative and churlish, a little like the teenager who acts like he's doing you a great, big favor by pumping gas into your tank. His most famous dustup occurred at the US Open in 2001. In that uncomfortable episode, he directed a racially ambiguous remark toward officials during his match with James Blake. It remains a defining moment for Hewitt for many people in the U.S., although at the time, Blake perceived no offense (and Hewitt denied intending any) and quickly moved beyond the controversy.
Hewitt's no-less-pugnacious father, Glyn, was omnipresent on the tour in those peak years, and that didn't really go over big with anyone. The Aussies have -- or certainly had -- a healthy tradition of expecting their players to shut their mouths and suck it up when they had a beef. At the height of his powers in 2003, Hewitt -- thought to be a proxy for his father -- also sued the ATP after Lleyton was fined for failing to attend a mandatory news conference at the Cincinnati Masters.
All of that, though, is water under the bridge. The same cannot be said for Hewitt's record at his home championships. If you've been thinking there might be some secret force impelling Hewitt to continue, this is where you might want to sniff around.
In the previous 18 years, Hewitt has been to the final just once. That was in 2005, when he was unlucky enough to encounter Marat Safin on one of his better days. Safin's power proved too much for the counterpuncher Hewitt to handle on that day, and the Russian star went on to win in four sets. Since then, Hewitt's best efforts have landed him in the fourth round on three occasions, where he's lost to Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic (twice).
The past two years at the Aussie, though, have been discouraging. Hewitt lost to Janko Tipsarevic in 2013, and then to No. 25 Andreas Seppi. Last week, he turned uncharacteristically candid -- and nostalgic -- in a news conference when he was asked about his expectations:
"When you start the tournament, that dream's still there for everyone, the 128 of us that are in the draw. Nothing changes in that aspect. Over the years, I think I pride myself on not looking -- too far ahead, anyway. Even when I was No. 1 in the world, I always played every match on its merits. Gave the utmost respect to my opponents, who I had to play."
Given how quickly the sands are slipping through the hourglass, a reporter asked Hewitt if he would be tempted to pause during his matches to drink in the atmosphere. He said he didn't know if that would happen, but he didn't reckon he'd be thinking along those lines. Not when there was a match to play.
"I think once those thoughts sort of enter your mind, it can probably distract you," Hewitt replied. "They can be a bit of a negative influence when you're trying to perform at your best out there."
Once again, Hewitt politely declined to tell people what they wanted to hear. He's always been truthful that way. I don't think an elderly lady watching on television ever stopped what she's doing to exclaim, "My, what a nice young man."
Hewitt never had much interest in being that nice young man. He just wanted to be a champion, nothing more and nothing less. He sought respect, not love, but eventually the line between the two grew blurred.