Former World No. 1 Lleyton Hewitt paid tribute to Roger Federer in an interview on Wednesday when the Australian was honoured in an on-court ceremony at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals in London. According to the 34-year-old two-time Aussie champion, Federer is still able to play great tennis against some of the best and young players of this generation.

“I’ve obviously been so fortunate to play against so many great players over my time, so many different styles and games as well, and you see the game always changing,” Hewitt said in an interview on ATP World Tour’s official website. “You know, these top four, five guys now are really taking it to a new level, it’s physically so demanding, but they have such big games as well and that’s where you really take your hat off to a guy like Roger Federer, who is able to play through the generation and stay up and absolutely be in the peak of his powers against the best guys.”

Hewitt, who will call time in his illustrious tennis career after next year’s Australian Open, has been given a special plaque by ATP Executive Chairman and President Chris Kermode. The ceremony was attended by ATP World Tour legends such as Boris Becker, John McEnroe and Mats Wilander.

Hewitt had said that the hometown grand slam tournament would be the best time to end his illustrious tennis career. The 34-year-old was a former World No. 1. He also won two grand slam tournaments at the 2001 US Open and 2002 Wimbledon.

Meanwhile, six-time titlist Federer recently improved his head-to-head score against current World No. 1 Novak Djokovic after ending the Serb’s 23-match winning streak 7-5 6-2 when they clashed in their second round robin match at the O2 Arena in London. Federer topped the Stan Smith group and moved on to the semifinals following the victory.

The Swiss will next play Kei Nishikori, who beat Tomas Berdych in a three-set decision, 7-5 3-6 6-3. Federer leads 3-2 in his head-to-head score against Japan’s top-ranked player.

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