Lleyton Hewitt’s 14th US Open ended in his first straight sets defeat at the tournament for eight years, but the 2001 champion won’t talk about retirement, no matter how many times he is asked.
The 33-year-old former world number one lost 6-3, 6-4, 6-3 to big-hitting Czech sixth seed Tomas Berdych on Wednesday and faced the usual barrage of enquiries as to what his future holds.
The grizzled veteran, who has undergone five painful surgeries in five years in an effort to prolong his career, has not gone beyond the fourth round of a major since Wimbledon in 2009.
But despite constant speculation over his future plans, the 2001 US Open and 2002 Wimbledon champion is currently more concerned about Australia maintaining their place in the Davis Cup World Group.
Next week, Australia will host Uzbekistan and once again Hewitt will be reporting for national service just as he has done every year since 1999.
In that time, he has played in two Davis Cup champion sides—in 1999 and 2003 - featured in 37 ties, and carved out a 40-14 singles winning record.
“The last couple of years are starting to look better. Bernie has played well in Davis Cup. I think Nick can handle the big stage, that’s really important. Not only next year but the next hopefully eight, 10 years,” said Hewitt.
“It was always going to be hard any time you want to stop, but I’d prefer them to be in good shape rather than playing in the minor leagues every year in Davis Cup. Whenever I do stop, I think it’s in good hands.”
