MELBOURNE, Australia — Baseball cap turned backward, pumping himself up with cries of "C'MON!" Lleyton Hewitt fought one last feisty encounter. Then he gathered his three young kids on center court and said farewell.
After a career spent trying to win the Australian Open, the 34-year-old Hewitt had said that this year's tournament — his 20th attempt — would be his last.
"Lleyton's Last Stand" as some Australian media have billed it came Thursday in the second round where Hewitt lost to David Ferrer, 6-2, 6-4, 6-4, in a gritty contest that the numbers alone don't do justice.