"I did love tennis" - Lleyton Hewitt after Tennis Hall of Fame induction

Lleyton Hewitt is a member of the International Tennis Hall of Fame and it's a well-deserved accolade for the former world number one.

Hewitt had a tremendous career although some consider it a career that never lived up to his full potential. He won 30 career trophies, two ATP Finals, two grand slams, and finished as year-end no.1 twice. It's a sport he dedicated his life to and still does.

“I did love tennis in terms of being in control of my own destiny every time I went on the court. It was just you against your opponent out there. I loved how you had to think outside of the box as well. If things weren’t going well, you had to come up with a different plan to try and work out how you were going to change something around out there on your own. I loved those challenges of it.”

Hewitt never doubted himself and from an early age, he showed courage against older and better players. He explained:

“I wasn’t afraid at a young age to take it up to the older, better players. I think that was probably the most telling reason why I was able to make the transition from juniors to seniors at such a young age. If you don’t have that inner belief in yourself that you belong there, then you’re not going to do it and it’s going to be a lot harder to make that transition as we’ve seen so many good juniors really struggle to do that for a number of years. I didn’t have the biggest weapons out on the court, but I certainly backed myself with my strengths.”

He finished off with:

“I’m sure it’s a lot easier to live yourself if you’ve ticked every box and done absolutely everything you could have done. I did absolutely everything in my power and certain things could change and may not have gone my way at the US Open or Wimbledon in the tournaments I won or even in the Masters Cups where I was able to clinch the World No. 1 rankings in those years. I look back and I’m just very fortunate for all the hard work and effort I put in that I got the results I feel like I deserved.”