What happened when Lleyton Hewitt played his idol Andre Agassi at his first-ever ATP tournament as a 16-year-old

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Lleyton Hewitt burst onto the scene as a youngster, winning his first Major title as a 20-year-old.

The Australian tennis legend won two Grand Slams during his tennis career, at the US Open in 2001 and at Wimbledon in 2002.

Shortly after his victory in New York 24 years ago, Hewitt ascended to number one in the world rankings, a position he held for the next 75 weeks.

The Aussie star enjoyed most of his success during the early stages of his career, falling out of the world’s top ten by the time he turned 25.

Having retired in 2016, Hewitt now looks back at his first-ever ATP tournament, where he faced off against one of his idols.

Lleyton Hewitt beat his ‘idol’ Andre Agassi at his first ATP tournament in 1998 as a 16 year old

Speaking on the ATP Tour’s YouTube channel, Hewitt recalled the build-up to his professional debut.

“I was preparing to get ready to play qualifying in the Adelaide International,” he said.

“I think it was Yevgeny Kafelnikov; they were holding out a Wild Card last minute for, and he decided not to accept it.

“So they decided to give me the opportunity, being a local kid from South Australia.”

Hewitt grasped the opportunity with both hands, securing his place in the semi-finals where he came up against his tennis idol.

“I knew where the standard was at and felt like I could hold my own out there but it’s a complete different thing when you’re actually in the main draw of an ATP tournament for the first time,” he said.

“I was able to beat Vince Spadea in the quarter-finals and then came up against one of my all-time idols, I had a poster of this guy above my bed in my bedroom, Andre Agassi.

The 44-year-old remembers the feeling he had walking out in Adelaide 27 years ago before scoring the biggest win of his young career.

“It was surreal to be walking out on Memorial Drive Centre Court playing one of the absolute greats of the game,” said Hewitt.

“I kind of walked on the court sort of hoping that I’d be able to find a way to be competitive and in the end I couldn’t have dreamt that I’d be able to actually beat Andre [Agassi].

“It was strange because our two biggest strengths were our return of serves as everyone knew later on, and we didn’t break each other in the match, it was 7-6, 7-6.”

Agassi was shocked by the youngster’s performance, revealing what he thought after their match in a 2020 interview.

“Either I’m really not as good as I thought, or this guy is going to be one of the best players in the world,” he said.

Hewitt went on to beat his fellow Aussie, Jason Stoltenberg, in the final, 3-6, 6-3, 7-6, as he lifted his maiden ATP title in front of his home crowd.

• F – Lleyton Hewitt beat Jason Stoltenberg, 3-6, 6-3, 7-6
• SF – Lleyton Hewitt beat Andre Agassi, 7-6, 7-6
• QF – Lleyton Hewitt beat Vince Spadea, 7-5, 3-6, 6-1
• 2R – Lleyton Hewitt beat Mark Woodforde, 4-6, 7-6, 6-1
• 1R – Lleyton Hewitt beat Scott Draper, 6-4, 6-4

Did Lleyton Hewitt win the head-to-head against his ‘idol’ Andre Agassi?

Hewitt and Agassi next took to the court against one another in Los Angeles one year later.

Agassi, then in much better form, led Hewitt 5-4 in the first set when the Aussie was forced to retire, leveling the head-to-head at 1-1.

The pair played six more times across the next five years, although nothing could separate them, as Agassi ended his professional career with a 4-4 record against Hewitt.

Arguably, their greatest contest took place in San Jose 23 years ago, as Hewitt and Agassi battled it out for the title in California.

After three hours of thrilling action, it was Hewitt who lifted the trophy, winning the second and third set tiebreakers, 7-6 [8-6], 7-6 [7-4].

Their rivalry was entertaining from start to finish as Hewitt proved his worth against his idol on several occasions.