Lleyton Hewitt is one of the greatest Australian tennis players of all time, having reached world number one and collected two singles Grand Slams.
Hewitt won the US Open in 2000 and followed it up by winning Wimbledon a year later, which made up two of the 30 titles he won across his career.
Since his retirement from singles action in 2016, the star has continued to mould the next generation of Australian players.
In 2015, as he was beginning to slow down his career, Hewitt tipped a star who did not realise his potential as an Australian star he thought would challenge for Grand Slams: Omar Jasika.
Lleyton Hewitt tipped Omar Jasika for success in 2015
Speaking to The Independent in 2015, Hewitt was incredibly popular about the direction Australian tennis was moving in.
The star highlighted four stars who he was excited about, who have had mixed results in the intervening years.
Speaking about Nick Kyrgios and, Bernard Tomic, and Thanasi Kokkinakis, the former world number one said: “The most pleasing thing is that [Kokkinakis and Kyrgios] play well under pressure in the big matches. They thrive in that environment. Tomic is exactly the same.”
None of those three players have really troubled the upper echelons of the ATP Tour, although Kyrgios has come the closest.
Kyrgios reached the Wimbledon final in 2022 and reached a career ranking high of world number 13 in 2016.
Hewitt also highlighted another star who he expected to challenge at the very top, which could not be further from the truth.
Omar Jasika has not lived up to Lleyton Hewitt’s prediction
Hewitt also predicted big things from fellow highly rated Jasika, who was just 18 years old at the time.
He said: “There’s another kid, Omar Jasika, coming through, and those guys are going to be the next group that can push for majors and get in the top 10.”
Things have not worked out for Jasika since Hewitt’s prediction.
The star has won just one ATP-level match since, which came against Illya Marchenko in the Australian Open first round in 2016.
The star is currently ranked outside the top 200 and he’s spent much of the last few years on the ITF and Challenger circuit.
He returned to the Australian Open in 2025, after being given a wild card, but he was beaten by Hugo Gaston.
