Former top-ranked Lleyton Hewitt reigned surpreme at the Hall of Fame Tennis Championships 2014 in Newport on Sunday after winning both the singles and doubles titles.
The Australian claimed his 30th ATP Tour singles title after defeating second seed Ivo Karlovic 6-3, 6-7, 7-6. He then partnered with compatriot Chris Guccione to win the doubles event – beating Rajeev Ram and Jonathan Erlich 7-5, 6-4.
“I felt relief to have finally won here. It’s an important tournament,” said Hewitt, who has hoisted the runner-up trophy for this event in 2012 and 2013. “For me, I’ve come here the last three years and have come awfully close the last two years. It’s nice to be rewarded today.”
Hewitt became only the fourth active player that won 30 or more singles titles. The elite list includes Roger Federer (79), Rafael Nadal (64) and Novak Djokovic (45). This is Hewitt’s fifth grasscourt title (including Wimbledon in 2002).
“Hewitt returned really well,” said Karlovic. “He rarely missed. I didn’t have my normal serve because it was windy. I was committing a lot of double faults and missing volleys – both of which I don’t normally do. That was because of the wind and because Hewitt was always right there.
“I’m a little disappointed but overall it was a good week.”
Karlovic will have little time to relax as he’s slated to compete at the Claro Open Colombia in Bogota this week where he’s the defending champion.
