Applications close today (October 11th) for Australia’s Davis Cup captaincy. Lleyton Hewitt will likely be unopposed and has received glowing endorsements from tennis royalty including Pat Rafter and Pat Cash.
Cash said “He’s vastly experienced, he knows the players, the opponents as well, having been close to the tour, and he gets on well with everybody.”
Hewitt debuted for the Green & Gold in 1999 by defeating American Todd Martin and helping propel Australia to capture the championship that year. Since then, he tallied 41 ties and won nearly two-thirds of his matches. He has been a stalwart for the home side and was key to their taking another crown in 2003. In 2015, Hewitt was instrumental in leading the Aussies to win the Davis Cup quarterfinals in dramatic fashion over Kazakhstan before losing to Great Britain in the semi-finals.
If he were appointed, Rusty will be only the seventh captain in Australia’s 66-year Davis Cup history. He will undoubtedly throw himself headlong into this next chapter in his Aussie tennis career in the same way that he grinded out each and every point he played over the last 20 years since coming on as a junior in 1996.
The Davis Cup is a proud Australian tradition. They have 28 Davis Cup titles, second only to the U.S. with 32. It has been 12 years since Australia has held the trophy and Australians would love to add another to their impressive resume.
For five years, Australia’s squad has been steadily improving under the skillful guidance of Pat Rafter and interim coach Wally Masur. Masur said “Lleyton’s got unbelievable, experience and energy, there’s no doubt he’s a great candidate.” However, the next captain will be challenged to harness the immensely talented, but sometimes petulant, young guns – particularly Nick Kyrgios and Bernard Tomic.
Earlier in his career Tomic reacted with indifference to comments that Hewitt made about his notorious off-the-court antics. But more recently Tomic has developed tremendous respect for his here-to-fore Davis Cup teammate. At the recent U.S. Open, Tomic said, “He (Hewitt) is a huge legend to me. I always looked up to him.” Ironically it was Tomic who ended Hewitt’s 2015 U.S. Open bid with a gripping five set victory which saw Hewitt up 5-4 in the final set before succumbing to his junior.
Hewitt has backed his energy and determination with an extraordinarily successful career and rightfully views himself as a role model for the rising Aussie stars. Indeed, Hewitt has been recently spotted in several of the young Aussie players’ boxes. This will give him the credibility with the next generation to carry on the progress of Rafter and Masur.
Hewitt’s impact may be profoundly more than captaining Australia to titles in the future. He is somewhat of a throwback in his love for representing his nation and reverence for all that is the Davis Cup. In March, 2003 he said, “I wanted to work towards the four majors and the Davis Cup. I know to a lot of people it may not mean too much, but to me (Davis Cup) means an awful lot.”
In an era when Davis Cup seems to be losing some of its grip on younger players and spectators alike, Hewitt’s sincere fire and passion might be just be just the tonic needed to restore this great institution.
