'Come on!': What happened to tennis icon Lleyton Hewitt?

Lleyton Hewitt is a tennis icon. The former world No. 1 was at his peak in the early 2000s, when he was wildly popular in his native Australia. We'll take a look at Hewitt's story, from beginning to end.

Hewitt was born on 24 February 1981 in Adelaide, South Australia.

He has a sports background as his father, Glynn, used to be an Australian Rules football player and his mother, Cherilyn, a PE teacher.

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Like his father, Hewitt played Aussie Rules as a boy, but made the switch to tennis when he was 13, a move he would not regret.

Hewitt began his professional career in 1998 and immediately made a name for himself.

As if a dream came true, a 16-year-old Hewitt triumphed that same year in front of his home crowd at the Next Generation Adelaide International to take his first ATP title.

It turned out to be the beginning of a great career for Hewitt, who would soon achieve great successes.

In 1999, he won his first of two Davis Cups with Australia.

Hewitt then reached the mixed doubles final at Wimbledon 2000 with his then girlfriend Kim Clijsters, but lost. He would wash away the disappointment by winning the men's doubles at the US Open together with Max Mirnyi.

The following year, it was Hewitt's time to shine individually. After reaching the semi-finals in 2000, he won the US Open in 2001 by beating tennis legend Pete Sampras in the final.

That same year, Hewitt also won the Masters Cup Trophy and became world No. 1.

In 2002, Hewitt took his second Grand Slam at Wimbledon by beating Argentine David Nalbandian in the final.

Hewitt also successfully defended his title at the Master Cup trophy after he was knocked out in the semi-finals of the US Open.

In hindsight, Hewitt was in the prime of his career at that point, as he would never be able to repeat those Grand Slam results.

In 2005, after having lost the US Open final the year before, Hewitt looked set to win his third Grand Slam title when he advanced all the way to the final of the Australian Open.

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However, Russian Marat Safin refused to cooperate and denied Hewitt glory in front of his home crowd.

That same year, Hewitt reached two more Grand Slam semi-finals, but failed to win another major in his injury-plagued career due to heavy competition from Federer, Nadal and Djokovic, amongst other top players.

However, 2005 was an excellent year for a very different reason for Hewitt, who married Home and Away star Bec Cartwright after he separated from Clijsters the year before.

The two are still married and have three children together.

In his impressive career, Hewitt would win 30 singles titles.

Hewitt would continue to play until early 2016. He made it to the second round at the Australian Open, but then retired, although he played doubles thereafter.

Hewitt will always be remembered as a player with a lot of fighting spirit, who battled for every point and became famous for always shouting "Come on!" after big points.

After his career, Hewitt was appointed Australia's Davis Cup coach.

He also features as a commentator at the Australian Open.

In 2022, he received a great honour when he was inducted into the Tennis Hall of Fame.

A feat his son Cruz wants to repeat, as the talented youngster is reportedly working his way to the tennis elite.

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Hewitt and his family now live in Burleigh Heads, Queensland, a move to benefit Cruz's tennis career, as reported by The Daily Mail.