Tennis great Chris Evert hails Lleyton Hewitt's aging hunger Lleyton Hewitt at the end of the Brisbane International tennis tournament. TENNIS great Chris Evert has heaped praise on Australian Lleyton Hewitt for producing the best form of his life in the twilight of his career. The ESPN analyst and former world No.1, who won the Australian Open twice during an illustrious career, hailed Hewitt and his mental toughness as he prepares for next week's Australian Open. "It is very rare you see a player over 30 play the best tennis of their career and also mentally be as intense," she said. We talked about how (Roger) Federer has kind of lost that a little bit. Older players are not that hungry. But not Lleyton Hewitt. It is astounding for me. I saw that last year at the Australian Open. He is as intense, even more intense, than he has ever been. It is incredible to me to see this. He has such a great appreciation for the game right now. Evert said she is delighted to see the new trend of players in their 30s staying in form for longer and in 32-year-old Hewitt's case, actually improve with age. "You didn't see this in my day," she said yesterday. Maybe because they are in better physical shape, they have had more adversity, they have been out of the game with injuries, they have a deeper appreciation for the game, they feel like they have to milk this for another couple of years because once it's over its over. I think it is great you can play you best tennis late in your 20s, early 30s. In my day it was middle 20s that was your peak time. We talked about grinder. He (Hewitt) is a perfect example. He is a wonderful grinder. You have to be willing to suffer out there and not give up, come through it, not succumb to it. You have to just go with it and that is what champions do and Lleyton Hewitt is a champion.