LLEYTON HEWITT

To some, it seemed a cloud had been lifted from the Australian Open.

(AP Photo/Hamish Blair)Novak Djokovic is gaining on Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal in the Grand Slam standings, and he’s already caught Federer in another significant statistic: As of Monday, Djokovic has been No. And no matter what happens over the next week, Djokovic is assured of breaking Federer’s mark on March 8. Djokovic’s Australian Open championship last month gave the 33-year-old from Serbia 18 Grand Slam singles trophies. That would make Medvedev the first man other than Federer, Nadal, Djokovic or Andy Murray to be first or second since International Tennis Hall of Fame electee Lleyton Hewitt was No. 1, followed by Australian Open champion Naomi Osaka, Simona Halep, Sofia Kenin and Elina Svitolina.

Spain's Rafael Nadal reacts after losing a point against Greece's Stefanos Tsitsipas during their quarterfinal match at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Wednesday, Feb. 17, 2021. (AP Photo/Andy Brownbill)Rafael Nadal pulled out of next week's hard-court tournament at Rotterdam, Netherlands, because of the bad back that bothered him during the Australian Open. Nadal's withdrawal from the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament was announced Thursday. Instead, third-ranked Daniil Medvedev, the runner-up to Novak Djokovic at the Australian Open, will take the top spot in the seedings. The 34-year-old Spaniard then was able to participate in the year's first Grand Slam tournament, which began Feb. 8.

(AP Photo/Hamish Blair)Billie Jean King and the other members of the Original 9 who laid the groundwork for the women’s professional tour are the first group elected together to the International Tennis Hall of Fame, joining Lleyton Hewitt and Dennis Van der Meer in the Class of 2021. In results announced Wednesday, Hewitt was the only one of five nominees in the Player Category who was voted in. He won Grand Slam singles titles at the U.S. Open in 2001 and Wimbledon in 2002, reached No. On Sept. 23, 1970, they all signed $1 contracts with World Tennis Magazine publisher Gladys Heldman to participate in the first women-only tennis tournament. Now all four Grand Slam tournaments offer equal prize money to women and men.

NEWPORT, R.I. – Billie Jean King and the other members of the Original 9 who laid the groundwork for the women’s professional tennis tour are the first group nominated together for the International Tennis Hall of Fame. They join Jonas Bjorkman, Sergi Brugera, Juan Carlos Ferrero, Lleyton Hewitt, Lisa Raymond and the late Dennis Van der Meer on the ballot announced Monday for the Hall’s Class of 2021. That group and Van der Meer, who advocated for a universal teaching method in tennis, were nominated in the Contributor Category. Van der Meer died last year. The full ballot now goes to the official voting group — which includes tennis journalists, historians and Hall of Fame members — and fans can vote online in the Player Category from Oct. 1-25.

Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece drops his racquet as he wins and defeats Austria's Dominic Thiem in their ATP World Finals singles final tennis match at the O2 arena in London, Sunday, Nov. 17, 2019. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)LONDON – Three years after coming to the ATP Finals as a hitting partner to the top pros, Stefanos Tsitsipas is leaving the tournament as champion. Tsitsipas rallied to beat Dominic Thiem 6-7 (6), 6-2, 7-6 (4) on Sunday for the biggest title of his career, becoming the youngest champion at the season-ending event in 18 years. ”He's great for tennis, because he has a very attractive game style, one-handed backhand, comes in a lot,” Thiem said. ”That's why it's probably mentally the most brutal sport existing, because you can play such a great match and end up losing in the championship match,” Thiem said.