No happy ending for the Australian tennis fairy tale: Sam Groth and Lleyton Hewitt lost their last professional match in the Melbourne quarter-finals against Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah.
The last toss of his career will be remembered by Sam Groth, even if it’s unpleasant: Groth, who will end his career with a 4-6,5-7 defeat to Juan Sebastian Cabal and Roberto Farrah, had just served for the second time in the quarter-finals, as he did at the start of the match. However, Groth and Lleyton Hewitt remained only one game to turn their fortunes around in second set, and the Colombians’ break came in the eleventh game.
Too late, Groth stretched out in vain at the very last point of the match, touching praise with the frame and saying good-bye to the tennis stage in general and especially to the fans at the Margaret Court Arena. The same goes for Lleyton Hewitt, the 2002 Wimbledon winner. Exactly the same cannot be said of the already retired Australian Davis Cup captain. For the double revival with Groth, Hewitt had returned from retirement, renouncing a nomination of his own “Rusty” this time.
The Australians will miss a meeting with Bob and Mike Bryan, while Oliver Marach and his partner Mate Pavic and Jan-Lennard Struff will face each other in the other semi-final with Bob Mclachlan.