2015: Farewell year Lleyton Hewitt

hewitt & kokkinakis @ wimbledon 2015

hewitt began 2015 season defending champion of brisbane international. in first round defeated in straight sets (3–6, 2–6) fellow australian sam groth in 58 minutes. result, dropped rank no. 50 no. 84 , lost position of no. 1 australian had held many consecutive months. hewitt played first fast4 short-form tennis exhibition match against roger federer lost in 5 sets.

lleyton hewitt @ wimbledon 2015

hewitt played 19th consecutive australian open appearance fourth longest streak @ grand slam. in first round beat wild card zhang ze in 4 sets. lost in 5 sets second round opponent benjamin becker despite winning first 2 sets.

at media conference, hewitt mentioned plans retire after 2016 australian open become captain of australian davis cup team after pat rafter moved on position, becoming seventh man captain team. had thought long , hard , plan play australian open next year , finish, said. @ moment, [the davis cup] main focus , looking towards grass court season , finishing here in melbourne, special play 20 australian opens . australia s first time in world group of davis cup in 6 years. rafter , john newcombe other 2 australian men have been ranked no. 1 since ranks established in 1973.

hewitt & dellacqua @ wimbledon 2015

hewitt played miami open , lost in first round thomaz bellucci in 3 sets. awarded wildcard 2015 u.s. men s clay court championships lost in first round go soeda.

hewitt skipped remainder of clay court season including 2015 french open, instead opting focus on grass season , wimbledon. began grass court season @ 2015 topshelf open lost nicolas mahut in first round. awarded wildcard men s doubles partnered compatriot matt reid. upset fourth seeds draganja/kontinen in first round.

at wimbledon, hewitt awarded wildcard , defeated jarkko nieminen 6–3, 3–6, 6–4, 0–6, 9–11 in first round of eighteenth , final appearance @ tournament. became 44th five-set match of grand slam career. despite 3 straight breaks in fifth set, hewitt on serve faced , saved 3 match points @ 4–5, , held serve each time until 20th game of fifth set. afterwards both crowd , nieminen himself gave hewitt standing ovation. partnering compatriot thanasi kokkinakis, wild card duo reached third round of wimbledon men s doubles 2 five-set matches, including defeating 15th seed, lost 4th seed. hewitt played in mixed doubles compatriot casey dellacqua on wild card , lost in second round, seemingly ending wimbledon career.

hewitt partnered sam groth win australia s davis cup quarterfinals doubles rubber against kazakhstan in darwin on 18 july. spectacular performance, groth , hewitt selected play last 2 reverse-singles rubbers, replacing kyrgios , kokkinakis respectively. after groth s win, hewitt won deciding fifth rubber against nedovyesov put australia @ 3–2 reach semifinals. australia s first win 0–2 down since 1939.

hewitt, on wild card, defeated compatriot john-patrick smith 6–3 6–4 @ citi open in washington d.c. in august. lost in second round of open tomic in 5 sets despite having 2 match points. hewitt partnered sam groth lost tough davis cup semifinals doubles tie against british murray brothers in 5 sets. todd woodbridge hailed best [doubles] ve watched years.