2002 Wimbledon Champion and Defending U.S. Open Champion Lleyton Hewitt Picks a “Career Doubles Partner’’

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www.specialolympics.org  Lleyton and Special Olympics China

Ireland 2003   US Open 2003  Washington 2004

 

For Immediate Release: 10 November 2002

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(Shanghai, China) World tennis champion Lleyton Hewitt joined Special Olympics China today to launch tennis programming in the People’s Republic of China. This new sport will be part of Special Olympics China’s athlete recruitment campaign to grow from 50,000 athletes to 500,000 athletes by 2005.

Visit Special Olympics online at www.specialolympics.org.

Ireland 2003

Hewitt dazzles Special Olympics athletes
28 June 2003

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Lleyton Hewitt’s championship form was on display on Saturday, 28 June, at the David Lloyd Riverview tennis venue when he scored a smash hit with a zealous crowd of athletes and fans at the 2003 Special Olympics World Summer Games in Dublin. Hewitt who’s racked up championships ever since he was 16 (at 15, he was the youngest player ever to qualify for the Australian Open) is a superstar in the sport of tennis and as Special Olympics athletes well know, the ultimate role model for the best moves in the game.

Special Olympics President and CEO Timothy Shriver introduced Hewitt. “It is an honor to welcome Lleyton Hewitt, a champion who still finds the time to make a statement on what matters in life and to reach out to another person who’s looking for a chance and celebrate the gifts of everyone who does their best.”

Hewitt took center court to wild applause. “Supporting Special Olympics is a way for me to work with young people in something I enjoy as well,” stated Hewitt. “I love sports, and I want to give something back to the game. If my name can help raise awareness for Special Olympics, that would be fantastic.”

Standing room was at a premium as Hewitt embarked on a unforgettable afternoon that included a “meet and greet” with athletes, a tennis clinic (part of the secret to a successful serve is the toss and the wrist snap) and an athlete question-and-answer session, where, when asked about training, said, “You have to train hard and be physically fit to move on the court for four or five hours straight.”

Hewitt and his coach, Roger Rasheed, took the court with athletes in a game that proved to be as exciting as a finals match, with athletes hitting the ball with timing and accuracy that kept Hewitt and Rasheed on their toes and spectators riveted to their seats.

“World Games, like major championships I play in, are the pinnacle of what you have been working hard for, to compete with the best athletes in the world,” said Hewitt. “It is the top of the mountain where it all comes together, and it’s the biggest dream you can have. The competition is a huge adrenaline rush with cameras and publicity, something athletes won’t forget for the rest of their lives.”

Hewitt has partnered with Special Olympics to help double the number of athletes to 2 million by 2005, inspiring athletes from Miami to Shanghai. As Hewitt travels the world, he continues to encourage Special Olympics athletes to develop their skills and be the best they can be.

Love-all for Hewitt
Sunday June 29th 2003

DECLAN McCORMACK

THEY say there are no losers in Special Olympics. Enter Lleyton Hewitt, pursued by a big Croatian bear. At 12.20pm yesterday Wimbledon's biggest casualty since '67 arrived at Riverview to give a clinic and to share the feeling. I'd say he learned almost as much as he taught.

First we had Bertie Taoiseach, who charmingly Howyaed everyone - athletes,volunteers alike - and who confirmed his status as the most sports-mad Prime Minister in the world by telling me that he had been up til 2.30am watching Wimbledon.

Hewitt looked particularly small and slight without his trademark reverse cap and seemed a little edgy at the beginning of his visit. Disasters at the French and Wimbledon can do that to even the finest. But he loosened up once he met the real heroes, the marvellous tennis athletes from all around the world (110 players from 29 countries, none from Ireland but that will be rectified by Shanghai) and all the wonderful volunteers who ensured that, if the crowds weren't huge, the atmosphere was mighty in Riversview.

"The evening is best," I was told. That's when all the tennis athletes are high-fived and cheered to the sounds of inspiration music out onto their buses. "The buzz is incredible."

The buzz was certainly there when Hewitt took to the court and played some fine strokes against Dr Tim Shriver, who has played better but rarely orated better. He said there are no flags or anthems in Special Olympics but Ireland was No 1 for hosting the great event.

That almost got as big a cheer as Hewitt got for some of his trick shots and net-whistling returns. Perhaps tellingly, he reserved all of his most stinging shots for coach Roger Rasheed who took over at the French. Perhaps they have issues to resolve.

Certainly the word was that 'the meeja' were not to ask any rouge-creating ceisteanna about the embers of Wimbers. Don't mention the war. Or Croatia.

I was much more interested in Georgia and Australia. The wonderful play of the multiple medal-winning Georgian team who maintained the fine tradition of Georgian-like Leila Meskhi (who came over during the week to support her compatriots) and Alex Metreveli. Didi Madloba (Georgian for 'thank you') for all your skills and spirit.

Georgia's chief rivals were the brilliant Australians who were particularly chuffed to have the world's No 1 over with them.

Some young Irish fans were delighted, too. But nobody was more thrilled than Tyler Chang, a member of the USA team. Hewitt is his hero and he just wanted to be photographed with him. He ended up playing side by side with him and putting in a top class performance, which must have impressed his hero.

As Doctor Shriver told me: "It's unfortunate that Lleyton lost but God never closes one door but he opens another."

Apart from sharing his skills with the players at various sessions, Hewitt also dispensed his tennis wisdom to the athletes in a question and answer session. "Train hard and stay positive," was the message.

It must be hard advice to follow at the moment, but he must have found lots of positive attitude and inspiring emotion at Riverview. I certainly did. The skills of the players were really impressive (Hewitt told me that he was impressed by the "top spin returns") and the attitude was awesome. Real sportsmanship, genuine hugging, hearty high-fives and sheer joy unconfined at winning. Or just taking part.

I witnessed the Blue Division doubles ceremony and it would have drawn a pint of tears from the Sphinx. The way in which the Aussie silver medalist Sarah Gibson held up the hands of the winning British pair and the heart-exploding threatrical joy of one of the bronze-winning Germans. There was no need for Hawkeye or Cyclops or fines for Rude-esky cursing in Riverview but I did learn which love is such an intrinsic part of the scoring.

I met wonderful characters like Austian (and adopted Limerick man) Wolfgang Kreminger, who could give lessons in charming women as well as tennis, showman Jose Penate from El Salvador, superb Aussie player Kathryn Wilson, modest triple gold winner Fiona Davis (from Tasmania) and neophyte Kylie Scott (from ACT, Australia) who told me that Lleyton told her how "to use my feet."

I'd say Hewitt, who was flying back last night to London to support girlfriend Kim Clijsters in her bid to win the Plate, learned quite a bit in Riverview and that's why he has been committed to Special Olympics for a number of years.

He learned, as all who shared the tennis feeling learned, that, while feet and hands are important in tennis, in the game of life it's the head and the heart that counts - especially the heart.

There were no losers in Riverview last week. Love all.

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US Open 2003 
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Hewitt Gives 100 Percent at USTA National Tennis Center

Former U.S. Open champ teaches Special Olympics athletes about tennis – and life – during clinic.

By JEFF FOLEY, SPECIAL OLYMPICS NEW YORK

For one shining moment, Special Olympics New York athlete Tom Adimari looked like as much of a world-class tennis player as the man on the other side of the court: 2001 U.S. Open champion Lleyton Hewitt.

Playing in a unified doubles match at the USTA National Tennis Center on Aug. 21, Adimari rushed the net and crushed a shot, scorching the ball in-bounds, past Hewitt and his partner. The large crowd gathered on both sides of court No. 4 cheered loudly.

“I thought it was pretty good that I scored against Lleyton Hewitt,” Adimari said. “I thought I could do it if I tried hard enough.”

And that was precisely the message Hewitt served to more than a dozen Special Olympics athletes from New York and New Jersey during an hour-long tennis clinic.

“Just give 100 percent,” said Hewitt, who was in Flushing for the 2003 U.S. Open. “And that’s not just in tennis or sports; that’s in life. If you give 100 percent, you’ll have no regrets.”

The 22-year-old Hewitt certainly has given Special Olympics 100 percent in recent years. His role as a Global Ambassador for Special Olympics has prompted him to conduct clinics in locales such as China, Miami and his homeland, Australia.

At the Flushing clinic, Hewitt volleyed with Special Olympics tennis players; he participated in a question-and-answer session, talking about everything from proper racquet grip to his career; and he participated in unified doubles play. He and his coach, Roger Rasheed, took turns pairing up with Special Olympics players.

Hewitt’s team tended to come out on top, thanks in large part to his crowd-pleasing trick shots. But he also encouraged the athletes on both sides of the net non-stop, clapping, exchanging high-fives and sayings things such as “Good shot, mate!”

“I liked playing with Lleyton,” said Special Olympics New York’s John Gianakouros, who competed at the 1995 Special Olympics World Summer Games in Connecticut. “I wish he’d be my partner in a tournament. We’d win.”

The clinic, conducted just four days prior to the start of the 2003 U.S. Open, drew media from all over the world, including The Tennis Channel and several television stations from Australia. CBS, which broadcasts the U.S. Open, also was on hand to record a segment about Hewitt’s relationship with Special Olympics.

Patrick McEnroe, a former tennis player turned U.S. Davis Cup captain and television commentator, interviewed Hewitt and then signed autographs for Special Olympics’s athletes.

Hewitt was still their favorite, though.

“I like Andre Agassi, Monica Seles, Jennifer Capriati … But Lleyton Hewitt, he’s my No. 1,” said Maria Musich of Special Olympics New York. “He’s a good man.”

Adimari, meanwhile, concluded that he and Hewitt are not very different. “When I play, I do the best I can,” Adimari said. “And that’s what he does, too.”

 photos by Jeff Foley