Hewitt Claims First Tennis Title Since March 07
Former world no. 1 tennis player Lleyton Hewitt has won his first ATP tour title since March 2007 when he won the Las Vegas tournament.
Success came at the US Men’s Clay Court Championship in Houston where Hewitt defeated Wayne Odesnik 6-2, 7-5. Hewitt now 28 is on a comeback of sorts after having undergone hip surgery last year.
“[It’s been] a while coming, so it feels great,” said Hewitt. “It’s always nice to get back in the winner’s circle. This is what the hard work’s for, to play weeks like this and to have this kind of feeling at the end of them. It makes all the hard work and gone through the surgery all worth it, so it’s a good start to the year now.”
Before 2008 Hewitt had won at least one tournament every year over a 10 year period. The win on clay is just his second clay court tournament title, the first came way back in May 1999 when he won at Delray Beach. Hewitt has now won 28 ATP tour titles.
The win also took Hewitt close to another milestone. He is on win no. 499 and one more win will see him as just one of three active players with more than 500 tour wins. Roger Federe with 634 and Carlos Moya with 573 are the only active players with more than 500 wins.
Hewitt now moves onto Monte Carlo where he has accepted a wildcard. He faces another former world no. 1, Marat Safin in the first round.
Hewitt will move from no. 88 to around no. 56 on the ATP tour rankings. Odesnik will move from 100 to a career high of around 73 following his runner-up effort in Houston.
Facebook comments: