Copyright © 2016. No duplication is permitted without permission from Bob Larson Tennis.

Praise from Rafael Nadal has only made Lleyton Hewitt all the more aware that his two-decade tennis career is set to end on the professional level over the next week or so. With the 34-year-old Australian set to retire after the Australian open and take over as Davis Cup captain, accolades for the gritty fighter are rolling in.

Now Rafael Nadal has joined the party, with his  endorsement of his fellow grand slam event winner sending Hewitt into fits of embarrassment over all the kind words flying around. Nadal, a 14-time grand slam   event winner, called Hewitt his career “example” for the crazed worth ethic demonstrated throughout by the Aussie.

“He’s just a huge example for me and I think for the kids and everybody,” Nadal said. “He should be a reference and an inspiration for a lot of new generations. What he did was just amazing because he had amazing success when he was so young, almost a kid, and then he had a lot of injuries and he kept fighting until the end.”

Nadal didn’t stop there as he reviewed Hewitt’s strong points: “He kept enjoying the sport, kept showing the passion on court every time he was healthy enough to keep on competing and that’s something great. It’s so important that people like him stay involved on the tour in the future and I hope that’s what’s going to happen because it’s great for tennis.”

Hewitt will start his 20th and final Australian Open with a first-round match against compatriot James Duckworth.

Copyright © 2016. No duplication is permitted without permission from Bob Larson Tennis.