When Lleyton Hewitt announced his retirement at next year’s Australian Open, he turned his 2015 season into a worldwide farewell tour. As Wimbledon approached, the awkward smell that surrounds a great’s last goodbye to the pro tour floated in the air. When the sheets came out and he was drawn to face Jarkko Nieminen, another veteran who recently announced his retirement, in the first round with a meeting with Novak Djokovic on the line, nothing but a Hewitt-esque screenplay was expected. And Hewitt did not let anyone down.
Hewitt did not win every match he played. But his traits and the fact that he never went down without a fight earned him a well-respected reputation of being one of the fiercest competitors in the men’s tour. Today on Court 2, all his skills and background were at full display, on the stage he reached his apogee, as he stepped on the most famous lawn of the world for the last time.
As soon as Jarkko Nieminen, a former quarterfinalist at Wimbledon, got their first round affair underway, it was clear Hewitt was not ready to say goodbye to the All England Club yet. It took five points before the Australian got his first break points of the day, but Nieminen skillfully fended them off to hold for 1/0. Another deuce followed before Hewitt could hold his first game. Then his mastery showed up.
A break from love ensued. Helped by a double-fault to start the game and a volley winner, Hewitt forced an error and counted on an unforced mistake by Nieminen to jump ahead early, 2/1 and serve. Though he was broken right away, Nieminen’s hold after a long game ended up being his last in the first set. Acing his way to tie the match at three, Hewitt saved two game points on Nieminen’s serve to break his opponent once again. When the Finn served again, he was down 3/5, in a must-hold situation.
He crumbled. Two double-faults propelled Hewitt to a first set win, 6/3.
The second set once again featured a break in the third game, this time favoring the former top-15 European, as he nailed a backhand winner to win the game on Hewitt’s service. This time, however, Nieminen consolidated the break for 3/1. The pair exchanged holds without forcing break-points until the ninth game. Down 15-40 serving, Hewitt saved the first set point with a volley winner, but followed that with an unforced error, wrapping the set to Nieminen, who returned the 6/3.
The third set featured a long game in Hewitt’s first time serving, proving it would be a tight one. He held for 1/1, and once again for 2/2 after a few deuces. Meanwhile, Nieminen was having little to no trouble winning his game, holding for 3/2 from 15, before Hewitt established himself in front. A forced error and a smash winner from 30-all in the seventh game handed the break to the former world No.1. After a fight, Hewitt finally consolidated for 5/3, but this time Nieminen saved his back when facing a set loss. The 2002 champion shut the door, however, serving out the set at 15, jumping ahead with a 6/4, 2-sets-to-1 lead.
The fourth set, however, was a massacre. Nieminen held from love, then broke from 15. He then held from 30, broke from 15 again and, with a 4/0 lead, the 33-year old Hewitt was ready to focus on the decider. The next two games were a formality, and after two hours and twenty-five minutes, they were headed to the fifth and final set.
That’s when magic happened. Hewitt broke to get things going, but failed to consolidate after Nieminen forced the Aussie to hit errors, leveling the set. The Finn was once again broken in the fifth game, but once again Hewitt’s own mistakes proved fatal to the Aussie’s intentions. In the seventh game, Hewitt's return game overmatched Nieminen's serve, but despite the Aussie serving at 40-30 to go up 5/3 in the fifth, Hewitt hit an unforced error and the Finn broke him one more time.
Down 4/5, Hewitt soon found himself in a 15-40 hole, but the volleys, once again, helped him stand his ground. As he held from love two games later, extra innings were a reality. Serving behind Nieminen on the scores, plus the leads squandered earlier in the set, proved to be a fatal equation for the Aussie.
Down 9/10 and serving to live another day at Wimbledon, Hewitt got up 40-30, forcing errors and acing his way. Not meant to be. Nieminen saved the game point with a forehand winner, then brought up another match point his way forcing an error from Hewitt’s side. This time, the Aussie had no response. Another forced error and this one was in the books.
After a one hour and thirth-four minute fifth set and almost four hours of match play, Jarkko Nieminen defeated Lleyton Hewitt for the first time in six meetings, 3/6, 6/3, 4/6, 6/0, 11/9. Hewitt left the All England Club without a win for the last time – however never a loser.