Hewitt proposes tennis event for local players only

SYDNEY: Lleyton Hewitt believes Tennis Australia could be forced to hold local competitions for home-grown talent only amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

The tennis season was suspended back in March due to the coronavirus outbreak with the shutdown to continue at least until mid-July with countries all around the world going into lockdown to contain the spread of the virus.

Hewitt told Nine’s The Greatest that he admits the sport will be hit hard on the international scale, expecting it could be a while until fans get to see their favourite players competing around the world again.

“It’s frustrating for everyone right now and the Aussie players are no different,” he said. “It’s been tough times for all the tennis players, I think our sport in general is going to be hit hard on the international scale.

“It’s going to take a lot longer for all the countries to come together and be able to go out there and lift travel restrictions for overseas travel.

But for the Aussie tennis fans, Hewitt believes we could see a national competition featuring only local players.

The two-time Grand Slam winner admits Tennis Australia is already looking into ways the sport can return amid the coronavirus outbreak.

“I know tennis Australia now are looking at ways to get the Australian players together to be able to play matches.

“Whether that starts in small stages in particular states, and then once our borders in Australia open up then we can start looking at some other kind of match plays, maybe some kind of Australian national tournament just to keep their eye in

“I honestly believe it will be quite a while before we see some of the big tournaments back on the centre stage.