Lleyton Hewitt was born in Adelaide1, Australia on 24 February, 1981. His mother is a former champion netballer2, his father is a league footballer, and his sister is already ranked number one in Australia for her age in tennis. She has achieved already more in tennis than Lleyton had at the same age.
The Hewitt's have a grass court at their home. This was where young Lleyton began his tennis career. When Lleyton showed an unusual ability for a 4-year-old and he was hitting balls consistently3 over the net, his parents decided it was time to find him a coach.
“Rather than get into bad habits, it was best he learnt how to hit the ball correctly.” says his father. Two years later, they got Peter Smith as his coach.
At the age of five, when most children that age are playing hide and seek4 or getting into all sorts of trouble, Lleyton and his family would make the trip to Melbourne5 for the Australian Open6. Lleyton would sit for up to 12 hours a day watching players practise.
Lleyton's career as a tennis player was planned by his parents who tried their best to keep him away from football. Lleyton's parents thought it was too risky7 to play football since he might get hurt. Had Lleyton played football, it is quite possible he may have ended up8 playing for his favourite team—the Adelaide Crows. As his mother says, “I guess we've guided him into things we felt good for him before he did.”
By the time Lleyton was eight, he was winning “under-10 games” and always won a year ahead of his age. A professional career was looking very promising. Lleyton officially turned pro9 in 1997.
In 1998, Lleyton was away from school for around nine months, and being on the road so much has helped him grow up fast. At the age of 13, Lleyton flew to Bangkok10 alone. The rest of the team had left from Sydney11. Lleyton had to share accommodations12 with people he did not know and some of whom did not speak English. Lleyton didn't know what was happening and was quite confused. So since then, he has made his own arrangements, travelling to the US, Japan, Asia, the Middle East and Europe, including Slovenia, Slovakia, Belgium, Italy, France, Austria, Germany and Switzerland.
In 1999 Lleyton had his first taste of playing Davis Cup13 when he was called upon to play for Australia with Pat Rafter14 at the quarter finals in Boston. Lleyton went on to win both his rounds against Todd Martin15 and Alex O'Brien16. Lleyton then joined Wayne Arthurs17 in Brisbane18 to again win against Russia. His Davis Cup record at that stage was 4-0.
In 2001, he became the youngest in the history of ATP19 Rankings, and the only Aussie ever, to be No 1 in the ATP Rankings. His greatest victory has been the US Open title in 2001. He was also the winner of the 2002 Wimbledon men's singles title.
Lleyton has continually grown from strength to strength and at such a young age, he is destined for20 further greatness and success within the professional tennis arena. His name is fast becoming well known in homes within Australia as well as in homes of tennis followers worldwide.
莱顿·休伊特1981年2月24日出生在澳大利亚阿德莱德市，他母亲是前无挡板篮球冠军，父亲在澳大利亚足球联赛踢球，他的妹妹已经是澳大利亚她那个年龄段排名第一的网球小选手。莱顿在她这个年龄的时候可没有这么好的成绩。
休伊特家里有一个草地网球场，小莱顿正是在那儿开始他的网球生涯的。他4岁的时候就表现出了非凡的才华，能不断地将球打过球网，这时候他父母决定给他请个教练。
“最好是让他学习正确的击球方法，而不要养成坏习惯，”他父亲说。两年后，他们请了彼得·斯密斯当他的教练。
5岁的时候，当多数孩子还在玩捉迷藏、淘气的时候，而莱顿则同家人常常去墨尔本观看澳大利亚网球公开赛。莱顿常常一连12个小时坐在那儿，观看选手们训练。
莱顿的网球生涯是他的父母一手安排的，他们想办法不让他踢足球。他们认为踢足球风险太大，因为他可能会受伤。如果莱顿去踢足球，他最终可能会加入他最喜欢的球队——阿德莱德乌鸦队。他母亲说，“我想我们在他自行决定之前就已经引导他涉足对他有益的事情。”
到莱顿8岁的时候，他就开始在“10岁以下赛事”中获胜，而且总是在比他大一岁的年龄组的比赛中获胜。一个大有前途的职业网球生涯已经初露端倪。1997年他正式成为职业网球运动员。
1998年，莱顿有大约9个月的时间没有上学，四处来回奔波使他很快地成熟起来。13岁的时候，他只身飞往曼谷，队里的其他人已经从悉尼出发了，旅途中他不得不和陌生人呆在一起，其中有些人还不会说英语。他搞不清楚周围发生了什么事情，弄得稀里糊涂的。自此以后，他自己安排行程，去美国、日本、亚洲、中东还有欧洲，包括斯洛文尼亚、斯洛伐克、比利时、意大利、法国、奥地利、德国和瑞士。
1999年，莱顿第一次尝试戴维斯杯，那时他应邀代表澳大利亚参加比赛，在波士顿举行的四分之一决赛中同拉夫特合作。莱顿接连战胜了马丁和奥布莱恩，之后又与阿瑟斯配合，在布里斯班再次击败俄罗斯队。这一阶段他的戴维斯杯纪录是四比0。
2001年，他成为国际职业网球联合会排名中有史以来最年轻的一位，也是惟一的一个排名第一的澳大利亚人。他取得的最辉煌的战绩是获得2001年的美国公开赛冠军，他还是2002年温布尔敦男子单打冠军。
莱顿已经一天天强大起来，他年少体盛，注定要在网坛取得更辉煌的成就。他的名字不仅在澳大利亚，而且在全世界网球爱好者中间不胫而走。
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1. Adelaide n．阿德莱德, 澳大利亚港口城市
2． netball n． 无挡板篮球
3． consistently adv．不停地
4． hide and seek 捉迷藏
5． Melbourne n．墨尔本，澳大利亚城市
6． Australian Open 澳大利亚公开赛
7． risky adj．有风险的
8． end up 结果、最终
9． pro 即professional
10． Bangkok n．曼谷，泰国首都
11． Sydney n．悉尼，澳大利亚城市
12． accommodation n． (车, 船, 飞机等的)预定的铺位
13． Davis Cup 戴维斯杯
14． Pat Rafter 澳大利亚网球运动员帕特·拉夫特
15． Todd Martin 美国网球运动员托德·马丁
16． Alex O＇Brien美国网球运动员奥布莱恩
17． Wayne Arthurs澳大利亚网球运动员韦恩·阿瑟斯
18． Brisbane n．布里斯班，澳大利亚城市
19． ATP国际职业网球联合会
20． be destined for sth ／to do sth 注定要……