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When Lleyton Hewitt became the youngest world No. 1

Lleyton Glynn Hewitt is an Australian tennis player and its most recent men's Major champion. Hewitt earned his fame by winning 30 singles titles and three doubles titles.

Also, he became the youngest world no.1. 

When Lleyton Hewitt became the world no. 1

The day Lleyton Hewitt became the world no. 1 was indeed a day to remember. It was on 19th November 2001 that Hewitt ascended to the top of the men's rankings. 

He won six titles that season. This included the US Open: his first Major title, and the Tennis Masters Cup in Sydney. At Flushing Meadows, Hewitt outlasted former world No. 1 Yevgeny Kafelnikov in the semi-final. The final was a repeat of the 2000 semi-final which Sampras won. This time, the four-time US Open champion was outclassed by Hewitt who earned his first Grand Slam trophy. Hewitt also handed Pete Sampras his second consecutive loss in the final (after his 2000 US Open loss to Marat Safin).

In Sydney, Hewitt ended the tournament on an unbeaten run, winning all six of his matches to finish the year ranked as the world's best player. He won the final against France's Sebastien Grosjean. 

"Growing up, the three things I wanted to do were win a Grand Slam, the Davis Cup and get to World No. 1," said Hewitt. "In the end, World No. 1 was the last of the three."

He held the world No.1 ranking for 80 weeks that includes 75 consecutive weeks between November 2001 and April 2003.

The following year, in 2002, Hewitt won his second Major, at Wimbledon. Two years later, he also reached the 2005 Australian Open final but was stopped by Marat Safin from winning his first Major at his home event. Despite these achievements, Hewitt's career had been riddled with injuries. However, the Australian kept persevering and made numerous comebacks, including a memorable one at the 2009 Wimbledon when he reached the quarter-final (lost to Andy Roddick). It was the last time the Australian reached the last-eight at a Major. 

Lleyton Hewitt retired from tennis in 2016 at the age of 35. Two years later, in 2018, Hewitt made his comeback to the tour, on the doubles circuit. 



from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/3qpc5QR

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