Lleyton Hewitt Provides Advice for Tennis Juniors

Tennis player, and former #1 world ranked, Lleyton Hewitt conducted a brief clinic at the National Tennis Center with a group of 16 and underand 14 and under tennis players that will be representing The Bahamas at a Junior International Tennis Invitational, dubbed JITIC, in El Salvador.
Hewitt spoke with the young athletes about what is important to be a great player, then they went on the tennis court and each had a chance to exchange shots against the tennis professional.
“It was more about seeing what a professional tennis player has to do and how professional you have to be. They all had fantastic attitudes out here today which is great. Every ball that me or my coach fed them and made them run for they chased down and they gave 100%. A lot of my career is based on giving 100% every time; whether it’s on the practice court or the match court. If you have the right attitude, you set yourselves goals and you keep moving forward every year,” said Hewitt.
Hewitt mentioned that sometimes there is a significant boost in a young players psyche when they get to see a player of his caliber in person.
“Coming from Australia, we’ve had so many great tennis champions over the years that have won Wimbledon, U.S. Open and I’ve been fortunate to meet them, hit with them, and spend time with those players; so for these kids to be able to see me in the flesh, I know I’m not the biggest player out there but I obviously work extremely hard, maybe they’ll know it’s possible. Sometimes something like that can give you a little bit of buzz to go out there to compete and do well,” Hewitt added.
Dominique Mortier, a young tennis player that will travel and compete with the team, noted that it was a “great experience” to hit against such a high caliber player.
Erin Strachan, also competing with the team, mentioned that the most important advice she got from Hewitt was “to go after every ball and never give up.”
The athletes accompanied with Coach Bradley Bain will travel to El Salvador on Friday to compete in the JITIC. Round Robin play is expected to start Sunday.

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