Meet the last 5 players who made their Masters 1000 breakthrough at Indian Wells

#2 Lleyton Hewitt (2002)

Lleyton Hewitt won his first Masters 1000 title at 2002 Indian Wells

Producing a near-perfect week at Indian Wells 2002, Lleyton Hewitt dropped his lone set of the tournament against Romanian Andrei Pavel in the second round.

In his other matches, Hewitt reeled off straight-set wins over Carlos Moya, Jan-Michael Gambill, Thomas Enqvist and Pete Sampras. He reserved his best for the final, where he lost only three games against Tim Henman as he clinched his first Masters 1000 title.

The reigning US Open champion would go on to lift his second Grand Slam title at Wimbledon later that season.

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Bhargav is a veteran sports journalist and editor at Sportskeeda, with a rich professional experience of 17 years, working for the likes of Siemens and Bombay Dyeing. An avid football and tennis follower for over three decades, Bhargav uses his vast knowledge and experience, attention to detail, an unbiased yet interesting writing style, and thorough research to craft insightful articles, which have raked in over 18 million reads so far.

Bhargav supports Italy at national level, a team steeped in tradition and history according to him. He still harbors the heartbreak from the Azzurri’s 1994 FIFA World Cup final defeat against Brazil, and protagonist-turned-antagonist from the game, ‘Divine Ponytail’ Roberto Baggio is his all-time favorite player. His favorite manager is Marcelo Lippi, who ended Italy’s 24-year wait for the World Cup trophy, winning it in 2006.

Outside Europe’s top five leagues, he follows the MLS following Lionel Messi’s move in 2023 but favors Cristiano Ronaldo in the G.O.A.T. debate. During his free time, Bhargav enjoys driving off to new places and singing.

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Edited by Musab Abid