Junior years As a junior Hewitt posted a 44–19 record in singles and reached as high as No. 17 in the world in 1997 (and No. 13 in doubles).
1998-1999: Early pro career Hewitt commenced his professional career in 1998. He was an
Australian Institute of Sport scholarship holder. confer during a doubles match at the 2005
Queen's Club Championships.
2000: US Open doubles title, Davis Cup finals In 2000, Hewitt reached his first Grand Slam final at the Wimbledon mixed doubles partnering Belgian
Kim Clijsters, his then girlfriend. They lost the match, to Americans
Kimberly Po and
Donald Johnson. Hewitt later won his first
Grand Slam title at the
US Open when he along with
Max Mirnyi claimed the men's doubles championship, thus becoming the youngest male (at 19 years, 6 months) to win a Grand Slam doubles crown in the open era. He went on to win back-to-back tournaments in
Queen's and
's-Hertogenbosch. He captured his first Grand Slam singles title at the
US Open, comprehensively defeating former world No. 1
Yevgeny Kafelnikov in the semi-finals, and four-time champion
Pete Sampras the next day in straight sets (7-6, 6-1, 6-1). This win made Hewitt the most recent male player to win a Grand Slam singles and doubles title during his career. He went on to win the
Tokyo Open, and he again qualified for the year-end
Tennis Masters Cup, held in Sydney. During the tournament, Hewitt won all matches in his group; with his round-robin victory against
Pat Rafter, Hewitt secured the
year-end world No. 1 ranking for the first time. Hewitt went on to defeat
Sébastien Grosjean in the final to take the title and cement his position as the
world number one.
2002: Wimbledon victory and No. 1 2002 started with disappointment for Hewitt, as he lost in the first round of the
Australian Open, his home Grand Slam. This was the first time the number 1 seed had lost in the opening round of the Australia Open, although Hewitt was still recovering from
chickenpox. The next few months proved more successful for Hewitt and he cemented his position as the best player in the world by winning three titles:
San Jose,
Indian Wells and
Queen's. His victory against
Andre Agassi in the final of San Jose was heralded as one of the greatest matches of the season. He followed his
2001 US Open win by capturing the
Wimbledon singles title. He defeated
Jonas Björkman,
Grégory Carraz,
Julian Knowle,
Mikhail Youzhny,
Sjeng Schalken and dispatched home favourite
Tim Henman - a rematch of their
recent Queen's final - before dominating first-time finalist
David Nalbandian in straight sets in the championship match; Hewitt lost only two sets (both to Schalken) throughout the championship. His victory reinforced the idea that, although the tournament had tended to be dominated by
serve-and-volleyers, a
baseliner could still triumph on grass (Hewitt was the first 'baseliner' to win the tournament since Agassi in 1992). Hewitt was the last man outside the so-called "
Big Four" to win Wimbledon until
Carlos Alcaraz in
2023. For his third straight year, he qualified for the year-end Tennis Masters Cup, held in Shanghai, and successfully defended his title by defeating
Juan Carlos Ferrero in the final. Hewitt's win helped him finish the year ranked No. 1 for a second straight year, becoming the seventh man to achieve this feat.
2003: Second Masters and Davis Cup titles In
2003, Hewitt defeated former No. 1
Gustavo Kuerten for the championship at
Indian Wells. But at
Wimbledon, as the defending champion, Hewitt lost in the first round to qualifier
Ivo Karlović. Hewitt became the first defending Wimbledon men's champion in the
open era to lose in the first round. Only once before in the tournament's 126-year history had a defending men's champion lost in the opening round: in 1967, when
Manuel Santana was beaten by
Charlie Pasarell. Hewitt was only the third defending Grand Slam champion in the open era to lose in the first round, after
Boris Becker at the
1997 Australian Open and
Patrick Rafter at the
1999 US Open. After Wimbledon in 2003, Hewitt lost in the final of the tournament in
Los Angeles, the second round of the
ATP Masters Series tournament in
Montreal, and the first round of the ATP Masters Series tournament in
Cincinnati. At the
US Open, Hewitt lost in the quarterfinals to
Juan Carlos Ferrero. Hewitt played only
Davis Cup matches for the remainder of the year, recording five-set wins over
Roger Federer and
Juan Carlos Ferrero in the semi-finals and final respectively, as Australia went on to win the Davis Cup. Hewitt used much of his spare time in late 2003 to bulk up, gaining 7 kg.
2004: US Open and Masters Cup finals In
2004, Hewitt became the first man in history to lose in each Grand Slam singles tournament to the eventual champion. At the
Australian Open, he was defeated in the fourth round by
Roger Federer. At the
French Open, he was defeated in a quarterfinal by
Gastón Gaudio. At Wimbledon, he was defeated in a quarterfinal again by Federer. And, at the US Open, he was defeated in the final by Federer, losing two out of the three sets at love (6-0). At the year ending
2004 Tennis Masters Cup, Hewitt defeated
Andy Roddick to advance to the final, but was yet again defeated by defending champion Federer.
2005: Australian Open final In
2005, Hewitt won his only title at the Sydney
Medibank International defeating little-known Czech player
Ivo Minář. Hewitt spent much time in the late stages of 2004 working with his former coach and good friend,
Roger Rasheed, on bulking up his physique. His hard work paid off during the Australian summer, when he defeated an in-form No. 2
Andy Roddick to reach his first
Australian Open final in 2005. He was the first Australian player to reach the final since
Pat Cash in 1988. In the final, he faced fourth seed,
Marat Safin, who had defeated No. 1 and defending champion
Roger Federer in the semi-finals. After easily taking the first set, he was defeated by the Russian despite being up a break in the third set. At Wimbledon, Hewitt reached the semi-finals, but lost to eventual champion Federer. Two months later, Hewitt again lost to Federer in the US Open semi-final, although this time he was able to take one set from the Swiss. Hewitt had at this point lost to the eventual champion at seven consecutive Grand Slam tournaments he played, (he missed the 2005 French Open because of injury). Hewitt pulled out of the Tennis Masters Cup tournament in Shanghai in November 2005 so that he could be with his wife Bec, who was due to give birth.
2006: 25th career title Hewitt was defeated in the second round of the 2006 Australian Open by
Juan Ignacio Chela of Argentina. He then reached the finals of the San Jose and Las Vegas tournaments, losing to British youngster
Andy Murray and American
James Blake, respectively. But he lost to
Tim Henman in the second round of the Miami Masters, a player he had defeated eight times previously in as many matches. At the
2006 French Open, Hewitt reached the fourth round, where he lost to defending champion and eventual winner
Rafael Nadal in four sets. Hewitt won his first tournament of 2006 (after a 17-month hiatus from winning a tournament), when he beat Blake in the final of the
Queen's Club Championships. This was his fourth title there, equalling the records of
John McEnroe and
Boris Becker. During the
2006 Wimbledon Championships, Hewitt survived a five-set match against South Korea's
Hyung-Taik Lee that was played over two days. He then defeated
Olivier Rochus and
David Ferrer, before losing to
Marcos Baghdatis in the quarterfinals. At the 2006 Legg Mason Tennis Classic in Washington, D.C., Hewitt was defeated by
Arnaud Clément in the quarterfinals, after defeating
Vincent Spadea in the second round and
Denis Gremelmayr in the third round. Hewitt participated at the
2006 US Open, despite having an injured knee. Hewitt won his first three matches in straight sets against, respectively,
Albert Montañés,
Jan Hernych, and
Novak Djokovic. He defeated
Richard Gasquet in five sets to advance to the quarterfinals for the seventh consecutive year. He then lost to Roddick.
2007: 26th career title At the
2007 Australian Open, Hewitt lost in the third round to tenth-seeded Chilean and eventual runner-up
Fernando González. With his win in
Las Vegas in March, Hewitt had won at least one
ATP title annually for ten consecutive years. This was a record among active players at the time. Hewitt reached the
2007 Hamburg Masters semi-finals, where he pushed eventual finalist
Rafael Nadal to three sets. At the
2007 French Open, Hewitt, for the second straight time lost in the fourth round to Nadal. At the
2007 Wimbledon Championships, Hewitt won his first three matches, including a four-set third round victory over
Guillermo Cañas. He then faced fourth seed
Novak Djokovic in the fourth round, which he lost. After Wimbledon, it was announced that he had hired former Australian tennis pro
Tony Roche to coach him during Grand Slam and Masters tournaments in 2007 and 2008. At the Masters tournaments in
Montréal and
Cincinnati Hewitt reached the quarterfinals and semi-finals, respectively. In both cases, he lost to
Roger Federer. He was seeded 16th at the
2007 US Open, but for the first time in eight consecutive appearances at
Flushing Meadows, he did not reach the quarterfinals or further. He lost in the second round to Argentine
Agustín Calleri.
2008: Injuries and year without titles At the
2008 Australian Open, he advanced to the fourth round as the 19th seed, defeating 15th-seeded and 2006 Australian Open finalist
Marcos Baghdatis in a thrilling third-round match. The 282-minute match started at 11:52 pm and ended at 4:34 am the following morning. It was a characteristically "gutsy" performance and cemented Hewitt's reputation as a tough competitor. Hewitt lost his fourth-round match in straight sets to third-seeded and eventual champion
Novak Djokovic. A hip injury Hewitt acquired in March 2008 affected his preparation for the French Open and forced the loss of 300 rankings points as Hewitt was unable to defend his semi-final appearance at the Hamburg Masters, as well as compete in supplementary tournaments. However, Hewitt made the third round at
Roland Garros, before losing a five-set thriller to fifth seed
David Ferrer. Despite his ongoing hip problem, Hewitt was able to compete at the
Queens Club Championship with moderate success, falling to second seed
Novak Djokovic in the quarterfinals. His good form continued into Wimbledon, Hewitt making the fourth round for the second successive year, before losing to No. 1 and top seed
Roger Federer. After Wimbledon, Hewitt elected to miss the Montreal and Cincinnati Masters in an effort to give his hip sufficient rest to enable him to play at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, where he defeated Jonas Björkman in the first round before losing to second seed
Rafael Nadal. However, the more notable incident in the Olympics occurred in Hewitt's opening-round doubles match with
Chris Guccione against Argentines
Juan Mónaco and
Agustín Calleri. The match went to an advantage third set with Hewitt and Guccione prevailing 18–16. After the Olympics, due to the further damage Hewitt's hip sustained at the Olympics, he was left with no option but to pull out of the US Open and skip the rest of the season to have hip surgery. 2008 was the first year since 1997 in which Hewitt did not win a title.
2009: Clay title, Wimbledon quarters, top 20 After returning from hip surgery, Hewitt played his first match in 2009 at the Hopman Cup, where he defeated
Nicolas Kiefer in three sets. At
Medibank International Sydney, Hewitt lost in the quarterfinals to
David Nalbandian. Hewitt then played in the
2009 Australian Open, where he was unseeded in a Grand Slam for the first time since 2000. He faced
Fernando González in the first round and lost in five sets. At
Memphis, he caused an upset in the first round by defeating
James Blake in three sets. He lost to
Andy Roddick in the semi-finals in a close match. Hewitt then lost in the first round of
Delray Beach to
Yen-Hsun Lu. In
Indian Wells, California, he reached the second round, losing to Fernando González. In Miami, Hewitt lost to seventh seed
Gilles Simon in straight sets. At the
2009 U.S. Men's Clay Court Championships, Hewitt defeated seventh seed
Diego Junqueira,
Sergio Roitman in just 57 minutes,
Guillermo García López,
Evgeny Korolev and
Wayne Odesnik in the final, for his first title since 2007 and his first clay-court title in a decade. Hewitt entered the
Monte Carlo Masters as a wild card. He lost in the first round to
Marat Safin. At the 2009 BMW Open, Hewitt recorded his 500th career win after defeating
Philipp Petzschner in the first round, becoming one of only four active players to achieve this milestone; the others being
Roger Federer and
Carlos Moyá.
Andy Roddick would later achieve this feat. In the
2009 French Open, he defeated 26th seed
Ivo Karlović in five sets in the first round, and
Andrey Golubev in the second. He lost to No. 1
Rafael Nadal in the third round. At the
2009 Aegon Championships in London he lost to former rival
Andy Roddick in the third round, and the match did not disappoint. In the
2009 Wimbledon Championships, Hewitt beat del Potro in straight sets. He reversed a two-set deficit to defeat
Radek Štěpánek in the fourth round. His run ended in the quarterfinals against sixth seed
Andy Roddick. It was a five-set thriller which featured two tiebreaks. Hewitt lost a heartbreaking match. It was the first time Hewitt had reached the quarterfinals of a Major since the 2006 U.S. Open. At the
Legg Mason Classic in Washington, Hewitt lost in three sets in the third round to
Juan Martín del Potro. At the
Montreal Masters, Hewitt lost in the first round to former No. 1
Juan Carlos Ferrero.
Cincinnati saw Hewitt reach the quarterfinals for the sixth time, where he lost to
Roger Federer in straight sets. During the first round of the tournament, Hewitt showed his trademark fighting abilities by saving two match points to win against an in-form
Robin Söderling. At the U.S. Open, Hewitt progressed to the third round, where he played Federer for the 23rd time of their decade-long rivalry. Hewitt managed to take the first set 6–4 from Federer, before the 15-time Grand Slam champion took control of the second. The third set was tight, and both players saved multiple break points. Federer won the match in four sets. In September, Hewitt lost in round one of the Malaysian Open in Kuala Lumpur to
Joachim Johansson. In Tokyo, Hewitt lost in the semi finals to
Mikhail Youzhny. He then competed in the
2009 Shanghai ATP Masters 1000, where he lost to
Gaël Monfils in round two.
2010: Halle title and victory over Federer Hewitt lost in the quarter finals of
Medibank International to
Marcos Baghdatis. At the
2010 Australian Open, he lost to
Roger Federer in the fourth round. A week after his exit from the Australian Open, Hewitt underwent another hip operation similar to his left hip operation this time on his right hip on 28 January 2010 in Hobart. Hewitt returned to the tour at the
U.S. Men's Clay Court Championships as the singles defending champion. With coach
Nathan Healey in the doubles they lost to top seeds the Bryan brothers in the semi-finals. In singles, Hewitt lost to
Juan Ignacio Chela in round two. Hewitt then reached the second round in Barcelona, before losing to
Eduardo Schwank, and lost in the second round of the
Internazionali BNL d'Italia to
Guillermo García López. Hewitt then travelled back to Australia to participate in a Davis Cup tie against Japan, winning his two singles matches. At the
French Open, Hewitt reached the third round, before losing to
Rafael Nadal. On 13 June, Hewitt defeated
Roger Federer in the final of the
Gerry Weber Open in
Halle, Germany, a grass-court tuneup for
Wimbledon Championships. The win was Hewitt's first over Federer since 2003, snapping a 15-match losing streak. At
Wimbledon, Hewitt was seeded 15th and lost to third seed,
Novak Djokovic in the fourth round. After dropping the first two sets, Hewitt took advantage of a stomach illness had by Djokovic to take the third set. However, Hewitt could not mount a comeback, and lost in four sets. At the
Atlanta Tennis Championship, Hewitt lost in the first round to
Lukáš Lacko. At the
Legg Mason Classic, Hewitt retired in the second round due to a leg injury. He returned in Cincinnati. Hewitt was 32nd seed at the
US Open and lost his first-round match to
Paul-Henri Mathieu in five sets. It was his earliest exit at the US Open. He withdrew from the
Malaysian Open due to a wrist injury suffered during the Australian Davis Cup playoff loss to Belgium.
2011: Surgery and out of Top 100 At the
2011 Australian Open, Hewitt was defeated in the first round in five sets by Argentina's
David Nalbandian. Hewitt was up two sets to one and during the fourth set had the chance to finish off the match, when the scores were 3–1 and 0–40 in Hewitt's favour, but failed to capitalise on the situation. Furthermore, Hewitt had two match point opportunities in the final set to close out victory. After the Australian Open, Hewitt participated in the
SAP Open, and lost in the quarterfinals to former US Open champion
Juan Martín del Potro, who was on a comeback from a wrist injury. The next tournament that Hewitt took part in was the
Regions Morgan Keegan Championships and the Cellular South Cup in
Memphis, Tennessee, where Hewitt lost to top seed
Andy Roddick despite being a set up. At
2011 BNP Paribas Open, he lost in round one to
Lu Yen-hsun. This was to be Hewitt's last event on the ATP Tour for over three months after he underwent surgery on his left foot. He made his comeback at the
2011 Gerry Weber Open in
Halle, Germany, where he returned as defending champion. Hewitt's reign as champion of Halle came to an end at the hands of home favourite
Philipp Kohlschreiber, when the Australian went down in straight sets. During this match, Hewitt turned his ankle when he came in to the net to try to reach a net cord ball. The following week, Hewitt had to retire during a first round match at the
Aegon International against
Olivier Rochus. This was a result of the niggling ankle injury he had picked up at Halle the week before. Hewitt came into Wimbledon with doubts over his fitness and condition and was unseeded in the 2011 Wimbledon Championships draw. Hewitt faced
Kei Nishikori in the first round and won in four sets. In the second round, Hewitt lost to fifth seed
Robin Söderling in five sets. At the
2011 Atlanta Tennis Championships, Hewitt beat
Phillip Simmonds in straight sets. He lost his second round encounter against the American qualifier
Rajeev Ram. After this defeat, Hewitt who had been scheduled to play in Los Angeles the following week, opted not to take up the offer of a wildcard and withdrew from the event to recover from his foot injury. He then was offered a wild card to play at the
2011 US Open, but was unable to play due to foot injury which ended his season.
2012: First ATP final in two years At the
Apia International, Hewitt lost in the first round against
Viktor Troicki. At the
2012 Australian Open, partnering countryman
Peter Luczak, the Aussies lost in straight sets to the Bryan Twins in round two. In singles, where he was awarded a wildcard, Hewitt faced Roddick in the second round. After dropping the first set, Hewitt won the next two. Roddick then retired due to a groin injury and Hewitt advanced. In the third round, he beat the 23rd seed
Milos Raonic of Canada at night in front of a boisterous Aussie crowd. In the fourth round, Hewitt faced returning champ and No. 1-ranked
Novak Djokovic. Djokovic won the 1st two sets fairly easily, and was leading 3–0 in the 3rd set when Hewitt launched a spirited comeback, taking the set 6–4. Djokovic eventually prevailed however, winning the match in four sets. Hewitt's two next matches were in February at the Davis Cup, where he won one singles and one doubles match partnering
Chris Guccione, what awarded Australia to go to the playoffs once more. After this Hewitt needed an operation to have a plate inserted in his toe. Hewitt returned with a wildcard at the
French Open where he lost in the first round to
Blaž Kavčič. After this, Hewitt began his grass season at
Queen's Club Championships. He lost in the 1st round to Croatian
Ivo Karlović. At
Wimbledon, he was defeated in the first round by 5th seed
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. I doubles at Wimbledon partnering countryman
Chris Guccione, they made the third round before losing in 4 sets. After Wimbledon, Hewitt was granted a wild card at
Newport. He lost to top seeded
John Isner in the final. Playing in the
Olympics after being awarded a wild card, Hewitt beat
Sergiy Stakhovsky and
Marin Čilić, seeded 13th, to advance to the third round. There, he met 2nd seed
Novak Djokovic. After losing the first set, Djokovic overpowered Hewitt to take the final two sets and eliminate Hewitt from the tournament. Hewitt received a WC to the Cincinnati Masters, where he lost to
Viktor Troicki in the second round. The Aussie's next tournament was the
US Open, where he received a WC, completing the "Wild Card Slam" (received wild cards in all of the four Grand Slams in 2012). Hewitt lost to 4th seed and No. 5-ranked
David Ferrer in the third round, despite having set points in the 1st set.
2013: Five top ten wins Hewitt started off 2013 in Brisbane, where he lost in second round against
Denis Istomin in straight sets. At exhibition event AAMI Kooyong Classic, he defeated
Milos Raonic,
Tomáš Berdych, and
Juan Martín del Potro en route to claim his second title. At the
2013 Australian Open, he suffered his sixth first-round exit in his home slam to No. 9
Janko Tipsarević in straight sets. Hewitt then played in the Davis Cup against
Taiwan and won in both singles and doubles. At
SAP Open in San Jose, he lost his second-round match to
Sam Querrey in a three-set thriller. He also claimed a wild card to play in doubles with fellow Aussie
Marinko Matosevic, beating the No. 1 American duo
Mike Bryan and
Bob Bryan in the quarterfinals, before losing to
Xavier Malisse and
Frank Moser in the final. With Hewitt's doubles run in the tournament, he surpassed the 100-wins mark in doubles. He next participated in the
U.S. National Indoor Tennis Championships in Memphis. He faced
Yen-Hsun Lu in the opening round, saving two match points to edge Lu in three sets. He lost to
Denis Istomin, again in the second round. At
BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, he lost his third round match to
Stanislas Wawrinka. Hewitt lost to
Gilles Simon in the opening round at
Roland Garros. After winning the first two sets, he succumbed in five. In his first match at the Aegon Championships Queen's Club, he beat
Juan Martín del Potro (in three sets), to progress to the semi-finals, where he lost to
Marin Čilić in three sets. At
Wimbledon, Hewitt beat top ten player
Stanislas Wawrinka in the first round in straight sets. He was then defeated by German qualifier
Dustin Brown in the second round in four sets. In July he made it to his first final of the year at the Hall-of-Fame Championships, losing to
Nicolas Mahut having served for the championship at 5–4 in the second set. His form continued at the
Atlanta Open, where he lost to
John Isner in the semi-finals in three tough sets. His
US Open run started well, beating
Brian Baker in four sets and following up with a five-set epic upset against fellow former US Open champion
Juan Martín del Potro, where Hewitt came back from two sets to one down against the No. 6, winning a fourth set tiebreak and sealing the match 6–1 in the fifth. He beat
Evgeny Donskoy in the third round to set up a fourth round match with
Mikhail Youzhny. Hewitt then lost to Youzhny in five sets, despite leading 4–1 in the fourth set and serving for the match at 5–3 in the fifth set. A measure of the success of Hewitt's 2013 season is the fact that he won the
Newcombe medal as the most outstanding Australian tennis player in 2013, a year in which he returned to the world's top 100. At AAMI Classic, he defeated Andy Murray in two tiebreaks. In the
2014 Australian Open, Hewitt played both singles and doubles as an unseeded player. In his first round singles match, he lost in five sets to No. 24 seed
Andreas Seppi. In doubles action, Hewitt partnered with retired and former Australian number one
Patrick Rafter. They lost their first round match against
Eric Butorac and
Raven Klaasen. After the tournament, Hewitt's singles rank rose to No. 38, his highest position since late 2010. Hewitt battled for his 600th ATP win, becoming only the third active player to reach that milestone by beating
Robin Haase in the 1st round of the
2014 Sony Open Tennis. After the Australian Open, Hewitt played as part of the Australian representative team for the Davis Cup. He lost his match against
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in straight sets. He then competed in the 2014 U.S. National Indoor Tennis Championships in
Memphis beating
Marcos Baghdatis in three sets before losing to
Michael Russell in two sets. At the Delray Beach Tournament he won a round and then retired against
Marinko Matosevic after injuring his shoulder. Hewitt played at the
BNP Paribas Open where he lost in round two to
Kevin Anderson. Hewitt then played at the
Sony Open Tennis where he lost in round two to No. 1
Rafael Nadal. Hewitt then played at the
U.S. Men's Clay Court Championships where he lost in Round of 16 to
Sam Querrey. Hewitt suffered three consecutive first round losses at the BMW Open by FWU AG to
Albert Ramos Viñolas,
Mutua Madrid Open to
Santiago Giraldo and at the French Open
Roland Garros to
Carlos Berlocq in four sets. This ended Hewitt's clay court season. At the
Aegon Championships, Hewitt lost in the second round to
Feliciano López in straight sets. Hewitt played at
Wimbledon where he lost in the second round in five sets to
Jerzy Janowicz. At the
Newport Hall of Fame Tennis Championships Hewitt advanced to the final for the third consecutive year where he beat
Ivo Karlović in three sets. It was his 30th career singles title. Hewitt went on to win the doubles title with countryman
Chris Guccione later that same day. Hewitt defeated Austria's
Jürgen Melzer in three sets at the
Cincinnati Masters to reach 610 wins on the ATP Tour. That enabled him to rise to number 19 on the all-time wins list, topping
Björn Borg and
Yevgeny Kafelnikov in the process.
2015: Farewell year Hewitt began his
2015 season as the defending champion of the Brisbane International. In the first round he lost in straight sets to
Sam Groth. As a result, he dropped from rank No. 50 to No. 84 and lost his position of No. 1 Australian. Hewitt played the first
Fast4 short-form tennis exhibition match against Roger Federer but lost in five sets. Hewitt then made his 19th consecutive
Australian Open appearance, which is the fourth longest streak at any Grand Slam. He lost in five sets to his second round opponent
Benjamin Becker despite winning the first two sets. At a media conference, Hewitt mentioned plans to retire after the 2016 Australian Open to become the captain of the Australian Davis Cup team after Pat Rafter moved on from the position, becoming the seventh man to captain the team. "I had thought long and hard and I plan to play the Australian Open next year and then finish", he said. "At the moment, [the Davis Cup] is the main focus for us and then I will be looking towards the grass court season and finishing here in Melbourne, which would be special to play 20 Australian Opens". It will be Australia's first time in the world group of the Davis Cup in six years. Rafter and John Newcombe are the only other two Australian men to have been ranked No. 1 since ranks were established in 1973. Hewitt then played the
Miami Open and lost in the first round to
Thomaz Bellucci in three sets. He was then awarded a wildcard to the
2015 U.S. Men's Clay Court Championships where he also lost in the first round to
Go Soeda. Hewitt skipped the remainder of the clay court season including the
2015 French Open, instead opting to focus on the grass season and Wimbledon. He began his grass court season at the
2015 Topshelf Open where he lost to
Nicolas Mahut in the first round. He also was awarded a wildcard into the
men's doubles where he partnered compatriot
Matt Reid. At
Wimbledon, Hewitt was awarded a wildcard and was defeated by
Jarkko Nieminen 11-9 in the fifth set in the first round of his eighteenth and final appearance at the tournament. It became his 44th five-set match of his Grand Slam career. Despite three straight breaks in the fifth set, Hewitt on serve faced and saved three match points at 4–5, and held serve each time until the 20th game of the fifth set. Afterwards both the crowd and Nieminen himself gave Hewitt a standing ovation. Partnering compatriot Thanasi Kokkinakis, the wild card duo reached the third round of the Wimbledon men's doubles. Hewitt played in the mixed doubles with compatriot Casey Dellacqua on a wild card and lost in the second round, seemingly ending his Wimbledon career. Hewitt partnered Sam Groth to win Australia's Davis Cup quarterfinals doubles rubber against Kazakhstan in Darwin on 18 July. With their spectacular performance, Groth and Hewitt were selected to play the last two reverse-singles rubbers, replacing Kyrgios and Kokkinakis respectively. After Groth's win, Hewitt won the deciding fifth rubber against Nedovyesov to put Australia at 3–2 to reach the semi-finals. It was Australia's first win from 0–2 down since 1939. Hewitt, on a wild card, lost in the second round of the
US Open to Tomic in five sets despite having two match points. Hewitt, partnered with Sam Groth, lost a tough Davis Cup semi-final doubles tie against the British Murray brothers in 5 sets. Todd Woodbridge hailed it as the "Best [doubles] I've watched for years."
2016: Retirement Having previously announced his intentions to retire after the
2016 Australian Open, Hewitt confirmed that his final season would consist of that, the
Hopman Cup and the exhibition
World Tennis Challenge. In his 20th appearance at the
Australian Open, he won his first round match against fellow Australian
James Duckworth in straight sets. He then lost in the second round in 3 straight competitive sets to 8th seed
David Ferrer, 2–6, 4–6, 4–6. Post-match he was remembered by players including
Roger Federer,
Rafael Nadal,
Andy Murray and
Nick Kyrgios as a man who was at the top of the game for years, and continually displayed the fighting spirit that he became synonymous with. He was made a Member of the
Order of Australia in the awards announced on Australia Day. In March Hewitt came out of retirement to replace the injured
Nick Kyrgios in the first round Davis Cup against the US at the
Kooyong Lawn Tennis Club. He played doubles with
John Peers against the
Bryan brothers. The Australian duo came back from two sets to love but lost the fifth set. Hewitt was the subject of a book titled "Facing Hewitt" which features fifty interviews with professional tennis players who competed against him. In June it was announced that Hewitt would be taking a wildcard into the Wimbledon doubles competition, playing alongside young compatriot
Jordan Thompson. In the first round, the pair saved eight match points to defeat
Nicolás Almagro and
David Marrero 19–17 in the deciding set. However, they lost to the eighth seeds in the second round.
2018: Comeback in doubles In December 2017, it was announced that Hewitt would come out of retirement and accept a doubles wildcard with compatriot
Sam Groth at the
2018 Australian Open. Hewitt and
Jordan Thompson accepted a wildcard to play
Doubles at the 2018 Brisbane International. They lost in the first round to
Grigor Dimitrov and
Ryan Harrison. Hewitt then played in the fast4 exhibition in Sydney where he lost to Grigor Dimitrov. Hewitt and
Kyrgios won the doubles beating
Alexander Zverev and
Grigor Dimitrov. After that, he played the
Tie Break Tens in Melbourne where he won his opening match against
Novak Djokovic, before losing to world No. 1
Rafael Nadal. In the
Australian Open doubles, Hewitt and Groth made a run to the quarterfinals, including a win over third seeds
Jean-Julien Rojer and
Horia Tecău. This was his best doubles result at the Australian Open in his career. Hewitt's doubles comeback continued with Lleyton playing doubles at the
2018 Estoril Open with
Alex de Minaur where they defeated second seeds
Michael Venus and
Raven Klaasen before losing in the quarterfinals. He then reached the semi-finals of the
2018 Fuzion 100 Surbiton Trophy – Men's doubles with
Alex Bolt before Venus and Klaasen gained revenge on Hewitt (this time with Alex Bolt) at the
2018 Rosmalen Grass Court Championships – Men's doubles. Hewitt then teamed up with
Nick Kyrgios at the
2018 Queen's Club Championships – Doubles tournament where they defeated number 3 seeds
Nicolas Mahut and
Pierre-Hugues Herbert before losing in the quarterfinals. At the
2018 Wimbledon Championships – Men's doubles, Hewitt was again wildcard with Alex Bolt however the pair again lost in the first round to Venus and Klaasen. After this loss, Hewitt teamed up with
Jordan Thompson and lost in the first round of the
2018 Hall of Fame Tennis Championships in Newport. Hewitt's last professional match of 2018 was in the
2018 Davis Cup World Group play-offs against
Austria where Hewitt paired up with experienced doubles specialist
John Peers to defeat the Austrian team of doubles specialist
Oliver Marach and experienced clay-courier
Juergen Melzer.
2019: Continuing to play doubles In 2019, Hewitt played doubles at a number of tournaments. In a pairing with Jordan Thompson, they lost in the first round of the Sydney International. A week later he teamed up with John-Patrick Smith at the Australian Open, yet again losing in the first round. Hewitt and countryman Jordan Thompson received a wildcard to play at the
Wimbledon Championships. They reached the second round before losing to R. Klaasen and M. Venus in straight sets. Also that year, he played doubles in New York, Houston, Surbiton, and 's-Hertogenbosch, playing with the likes of Alexei Popyrin and Thompson yet again.
2020: Back in hometown of Adelaide Hewitt once again featured in the Australian summer of tennis, this time choosing to participate in the new
Adelaide International, the first time he had played tour-tennis in his home town for over a decade. He partnered Jordan Thompson but lost in the first round to Cristian Garín and Juan Ignacio Londero. The two chose to compete at the
Australian Open a week later, but lost in the first round in straight sets, to Korean duo
Min-Kyu Song and
Nam Ji-sung. Hewitt continues to commentate matches at the Australian Open.
2025: Return to doubles In November 2025, Hewitt came out of retirement to partner son
Cruz in the
NSW Open doubles draw with a wildcard. In that tournament, they reached the quarterfinals, where they were defeated in straight sets by fellow Australians
Calum Puttergill and
Dane Sweeny. Hewitt and his son also entered the
Playford Tennis International, but conceded a walkover after Cruz suffered an adductor injury in singles play. ==National representation==