Hewitt picked up the Grand Slam trophy in SW19 in 2002 before eight years of dominance by Roger Federer and Rafa Nadal.

He has since though dropped to 70 in the world rankings but his ferociousness as a competitor has not left him and he provided a first round upset when he took out the Swiss 6-4, 7-5, 6-3.

“It’s an unbelievable feeling,” Hewitt said after his victory.

“I knew I had to come out here and pay well and I played really well.”

Hewitt’s first round upset was not the only one of the day though with world number five and Rafael Nadal, who picked up his eighth French Open final only two weeks ago, going out in straight sets to world number 135 Belgian Steve Darcis.

Photo: Getty.