Roger Federer has praised his friend and former world number one Lleyton Hewitt for teaching a generation of players how to master modern-day grass-court tennis.
Federer, who is preparing his attempt to secure an eighth Wimbledon title, first played at the All England Club with Hewitt in the doubles as a teenager in 1999.
"It's been always tough against him on this surface. I think for a base-liner, he was the first guy really from the baseline to have such a major impact as well," Federer is quoted as saying by The Guardian.
"Plus he's a smaller guy. It was dominated by the big servers for a while. Back then, Ivan Lendl, Jim Courier; they had to really volley to have success. They did it very well.
"But Lleyton was really every point from the baseline. For him to win Wimbledon, and have the career he had on the grass, is quite unbelievable. It showed an entire generation how it can be done."
Hewitt won Wimbledon in 2002, the last player other than Federer, Rafael Nadal, Andy Murray or Novak Djokovic to do so. He faces Finnish veteran Jarko Nieminen in the first round on Monday.
Joe Sharratt
