The 30-year-old Hewitt certainly doesn't believe he is a spent force. He is back this week at the Gerry Weber Open and has won his first two matches - over Leonardo Mayer and Andreas Seppi - to reach the quarterfinals. Hewitt had a 4-4 record this year until his latest setback - the ankle - put a brake on his season in March. But a surgery on each of his hips and ankle later, the Australian is still slugging it out on the tour. It would have been easy for him to settle into the family life with his three kids or into the role of a Davis Cup captain. Its been five years now since he has been ranked in the top-10 and six since he last reached the semifinals at a Slam. Hewitt is by far the most accomplished of the trio - having won two Grand Slams and reaching the top ranking in April 2001. No one exemplifies these qualities more than Lleyton Hewitt, David Nalbandian and Tommy Haas - three former top-ranked men, two of whom were part of the ATP's NEW BALLS, PLEASE campaign launched in 2001, who are now in the midst of their latest comeback attempts. And it takes a pure sacred love of the game to continue playing for the chase of that one last shot.ĭavid Nalbandian is on a comeback trail. It takes courage to defy the odds and the ravages of the ageing process for that one last shot at glory. It takes guts to come back from injury after injury surgery after surgery setback after setback - and put yourself in a position to be beaten by an opponent you know is not in the same league as you. It takes a certain amount of character to continue playing when age or your body has got the better of you. And the Connors legend would not be the same were it not for his improbable yet magical run to the US Open semifinals at the age of 39. Jimmy Connors dropped out of the top-10 in April 1989 but continued playing for a few more years. Others continue to grind it out on the professional circuit, years after their best days are behind them. Some of them choose to quit at the top of their game not ready to play the role of an also-ran after scaling the highest peaks of the sport.

Guts and glory tennis