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Last year, Lleyton Hewitt announced he would be retiring from professional tennis following the 2016 Australian Open, bringing an end to a successful 18-year career that saw the Australian become the youngest World No. 1 in the sport.
Today, he lost to 8th seed David Ferrer in straight sets in the pair’s second round match, and was knocked out of the Open.
His colleagues, peers and juniors all reacted to the legend’s retirement, as did several others across the world of sport:
Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray and Rafael Nadal all paid tribute to Hewitt, describing him as one of the best in the sport.
Nadal hailed him as an “inspiration to me, inspiration to many others in the sport,” thanking him for the times they had shared.
Novak Djokovic, reigning champion at the Australian Open, said tennis would “miss Hewitt,” who had been “...a great friend, a great competitor” who had “...brought so much to the sport. Tennis will miss you,” he said.
There were reactions to the retirement across social media.
A few of the best tweets:
