Tennis legend gives Jannik Sinner a helping hand as Italian who shocked Novak Djokovic aims to win Australian Open 2024 final against Daniil Medvedev
- Lleyton Hewitt helped Jannik Sinner prepare for his final
- Sinner will face Daniil Medvedev at the Australian Open
- John Millman also helped the Russian prepare
Lleyton Hewitt was reportedly spotted helping Jannik Sinner warm up for the biggest match of the Italian’s life at the Australian Open.
The 22-year-old Sinner is aiming to win his first grand slam in Sunday’s final against Daniil Medvedev after seeing off the all-conquering Novak Djokovic in the semi-finals.
The Italian went into the final as favorite and, according to Fox Sports, received a helping hand from Australian hero Hewitt, although fellow tennis great John Millman helped Medvedev with the preparation.
Hewitt has been keen to take on a mentor role since retiring from tennis and is a regular in Alex de Minaur’s coaches box.
However, he ran into trouble when he appeared to break the rules during De Minaur’s defeat to Andrei Rublev earlier in the tournament.
Lleyton Hewitt reportedly helped Jannik Sinner warm up for the Australian Open final
Sinner (left) will face Jannik Sinner in the final in Melbourne
With Rublev taking a 4-0 lead in the fifth set, it looked like the Russian was starting to cramp.
Rublev came up short on the baseline and stretched his calf between the points.
Hewitt saw this and tried to get De Minaur’s attention so he could take advantage of the situation.
Coaches are allowed to coach on the right side under the new rules, but only if they are on the same side as the player.
Hewitt, who was at the other end of the pitch, appeared to gesture to De Minaur to get the Russian to run more, but he stopped abruptly when he saw himself on the big screen at Rod Laver Arena.
Aussie Tennis great Todd Woodbridge acknowledged how frustrating it must have been for Hewitt.
“He was on the other end of the line at the time and wants to say, ‘Did you see it, did you see it?’,” Woodbridge told Nine’s Morning Serve.
Australian tennis legend Hewitt has taken on a mentor role in his post-playing career
“And he couldn’t get the message across because all he had to do was get the ball from corner to corner and get Rublev moving, but that was the great thing with Rublev.
‘He would bang on serve, create a winner, or get to the point where he could just stand in the middle and that’s hard to do and he just kept his composure.
‘Unbelievable when he was so close (gesturing with his fingers) that he couldn’t finish the match.’