Darren Cahill reveals Lleyton Hewitt's induction into the Tennis Hall of Fame in a piece for ATP.Tour.com

Lleyton Hewitt is going to be a tennis hall of famer as his induction was announced by Darren Cahill in a piece written for the ATP website.

Cahill worked with Hewitt for three years from 1998 to 2001 and oversaw one of the more successful periods of his career as a coach. They know each other pretty well anyways having met when Hewitt was 12 years old and Cahill was 28. It was back home in Australia with the duo playing a practice match that day. It left an ever-lasting impression on Cahill.

"The first two sets went by without drama as a kick serve from a 188cm former pro was proving a little difficult for the talking garden gnome to handle. But something unusual started to happen. Like a velociraptor, he had started to work me out and probe for weaknesses. He stood in on my serve and took it early. He started to serve to my forehand, which I hated. And instead of allowing me to come to net on my terms, he dragged me in on junk balls and then proceeded to backhand topspin lob me to death."

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Cahill watched Hewitt blossom from a small lad to a grown man that was winning grand slam trophies. It was something Cahill always thought he had in him:

"Lleyton’s DNA was different to most. He took an individual sport and turned his matches into a team sport environment, pulling on his Aussie Rules background to rally the people around him like team-mates. There was nothing solo about his performances and he wasn’t scared to get involved in a scrap. Maybe there’s a hint of Connors, McEnroe and Nastase in him, but there's also a lot of Newcombe, Laver, Emerson and Rosewall flowing through his veins. That true Aussie spirit with a hint of mischief just to stir things up."

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For Cahill the importance of Hewitt is tremendous for Australian tennis. He explained why:

"Most importantly, Lleyton left an important legacy in competing for Australia and setting a standard of training and competition that every generation should look up to. He’s a role model for believing in the impossible, and then making the impossible a reality. He left nothing to chance and loved every single second of his journey. He had purpose, he bounced back through resilience, he oozed belief and he had an unmatched work ethic. And yeah, he had the heart of a lion and the mind of a velociraptor. His reward? A well-earned induction into the International Tennis Hall of Fame"

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