page_title: Lleyton Hewitt
section_title: 2012: First ATP final in two years
hierarchical_section_title: Lleyton Hewitt / Tennis career / 2012: First ATP final in two years
caption_attribution_description: English: Lleyton Hewitt signing autographs after dismissing Vasek Pospisil 6-1 6-1 in the first round of the Hall of Fame Tennis Championships in Newport in 2012.
context_page_description: Lleyton Glynn Hewitt AM is an Australian semi-retired professional tennis player and former world No. 1. He is the most recent Australian to win a men's singles Grand Slam title.
  In November 2001 Hewitt became the youngest male in the ATP era to be ranked No. 1 in the world in singles at the age of 20 years, 8 months and 26 days. He won 30 singles titles and 3 doubles titles, his highlights being the 2001 US Open and 2002 Wimbledon men's singles titles, the 2000 US Open men's doubles title, back-to-back Tennis Masters Cup titles in 2001 and 2002, and the Davis Cup with Australia in 1999 and 2003. Hewitt reached the final of the 2004 US Open, where he was defeated by Roger Federer in straight sets. Between 1997 and 2016, he contested twenty consecutive Australian Open men's singles tournaments, reaching the 2005 final where he was defeated by Marat Safin in four sets.
context_section_description: Hewitt began his 2012 season at the Hopman Cup. In the opening singles tie against Spain, Hewitt lost in singles to Fernando Verdasco. For the mixed doubles match, Hewitt partnered with Jarmila Gajdošová. They lost the match in three sets 6–3, 3–6, 9–11, despite being 5–1 up in the final set tie-breaker. In the second tie against France, Hewitt lost to Richard Gasquet in singles and in straight sets in mixed doubles. In the final tie against China, Hewitt defeated Wu Di in straight sets and won the mixed doubles match. His next tournament was the Apia International, where he lost in the first round against Serbian fifth seed Viktor Troicki.
  His next tournament was the 2012 Australian Open. In doubles, partnering countryman Peter Luczak, the Aussies went until the 2nd round where they lost in straight sets to the Bryan Twins. In singles, where he was awarded a wildcard, Hewitt won his first round match defeating unseeded Cedrik-Marcel Stebe in almost four hours. Long-time rival Andy Roddick, who was seeded 15th, awaited Hewitt in the second round. After dropping the first set, Hewitt won the next two. Roddick then retired due to a groin injury and Hewitt advanced. In the third round, he faced the 23rd seed Milos Raonic of Canada. Playing at night in front of a boisterous Aussie crowd, Hewitt dispatched Raonic in 3 hours 6 minutes. In the 4th round, Hewitt faced returning champ and No. 1-ranked Novak Djokovic. Djokovic won the 1st two sets fairly easily, and was leading 3–0 in the 3rd set when Hewitt launched a spirited comeback, taking the set 6–4. Djokovic eventually prevailed however, winning the match in four sets, ending Hewitt's run. Hewitt's two next matches were in February at the Davis Cup, where he won one singles and one doubles match partnering Chris Guccione, what awarded Australia to go to the playoffs once more. After this Hewitt needed an operation to have a plate inserted in his toe.
  Hewitt returned with a wildcard at the French Open where he lost in the first round to Blaž Kavčič. After this, Hewitt began his grass season at Queen's Club Championships. Unfortunately he lost in the 1st round to Croatian Ivo Karlović. Hewitt's next tournament was the 2012 Wimbledon Championships, where he was defeated in the first round by 5th seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. During this match, ITF released wild cards for the 2012 Olympics, and Hewitt's name was in the singles list, marking his third appearance at the Olympic Games (2000, 2008 and now). After his loss against Tsonga, Hewitt played doubles at Wimbledon partnering countryman Chris Guccione, where they made the 3rd round before losing in 4 sets.
  After Wimbledon, viewing to prepare for the Olympics, Hewitt was granted a wild card at Newport. In the opening round, he defeated Canadian Vasek Pospisil. In the 2nd round, he won in three sets, ousting American Tim Smyczek. In his next match, the Aussie won against Israeli Dudi Sela. With this win, Hewitt went on to the semi-final (his first since Halle 2010), where he was victorious over American Rajeev Ram. He lost to top seeded John Isner in the final.
  Playing in the Olympics, Hewitt was drawn against Sergiy Stakhovsky and won. Marin Čilić, seeded 13th, awaited in the second round and Hewitt dispatched the Croat in two sets to advance to the third round. There, he met 2nd seed Novak Djokovic. After losing the first set, Djokovic overpowered Hewitt to take the final two sets and eliminate Hewitt from the tournament. In the mixed doubles, he and Sam Stosur reached the quarterfinals, where they lost two sets to one to Britain's Andy Murray and Laura Robson.
  Beginning the American hard court season, Hewitt received a WC to the Cincinnati Masters, where he won against Mikhail Youzhny in the 1st round before losing to Viktor Troicki in the 2nd round. The Aussie's next tournament was the US Open, where he received a WC, completing the "Wild Card Slam" (received wild cards in all of the four Grand Slams in 2012). In the 1st round, Hewitt met Tobias Kamke, winning his first match at Flushing Meadows since 2009. In the 2nd round, H
caption: Lleyton Hewitt signing autographs after dismissing Vasek Pospisil 6–1 6–1 in the first round of the Hall of Fame Tennis Championships in Newport in 2012.
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