Australian favourite Lleyton Hewitt will ring in the New Year with a night session blockbuster against former champion Radek Stepanek on January 1.
Hewitt will headline the night session on New Year’s Day at Pat Rafter Arena against the 2009 men’s champion, in the ultimate battle of the veterans.
This will be Hewitt’s first appearance at the Brisbane International, despite already playing on Pat Rafter Arena during the Davis Cup, and he’s thrilled to get out and play in front of Brisbane fans.
“I love playing the Australian tournaments and I have heard so many good things about the tournament. I am looking forward to kicking off the New Year there,” said the 31-year-old, who is working closely with Australian Tennis legend and Davis Cup coach Tony Roche.
In 2012 Hewitt has enjoyed some solid performances after returning from injury, reaching the fourth round of the Australian Open, the final of Newport and pushing Novak Djokovic to three sets in the third round of the London 2012 Olympic Games.
“It’s always a tough field [in Brisbane] … so there will be a lot of tough matches and I want to get as many tough matches as possible,” Hewitt said.
“The facilities are fantastic … I enjoy going up there to Queensland, normally the weather is extremely nice – especially at that time of year.”
For Brisbane fans, catching a glimpse of the Grand Slam champion is the perfect way to ring in the New Year.
Night sessions tickets are available at Ticketek.