Twenty-one trivia bits to salute legendary Lleyton

Lleyton Hewitt, Australia's perennial terrier, saw his illustrious singles career—he’s still in the doubles draw—end after his second-round ouster at the racquet of No. 8 seed David Ferrer in his homeland's Grand Slam event. In his final act of #HewBeauty, the count was 6-2, 6-4, 6-4.

Hewitt was widely hailed throughout his career for wringing every ounce of talent out of himself. In recognition of his storied 20 years on the ATP tour, the Spin hereby counts down 21 amusing morsels about Lleyton.

21. Andy Murray named his dog Rusty after Hewitt. "He was someone I loved growing up," said Murray, a four-time Aussie Open finalist and the No. 2 seed this year in Melbourne.

20. When he qualified for the 1997 Aussie Open at age 15, some of the ballpersons were older than him.

19. He's going to be his country's Davis Cup captain. Rejoice!

18. Roger Federer "loved every moment of it, the good and the bad," in playing Hewitt. Lleyton leaves the game with a 9-18 mark against Fed.

17. Unsurprisingly, Murray himself also "loved it" when it came to sparring with the 34-year-old Aussie. In truth, they played a sanctioned singles match just once, with Murray prevailing in three sets on a San Jose hard court in 2006.

16. Nick Kyrgios doesn't actually think Hewitt should retire. "Don't go, mate,” he said. “I think you're playing such a high level of tennis."

15. Hewitt has mentored Kyrgios for six months. So yes, he has his retired life's work cut out for him.

14. Novak Djokovic's tribute to Hewitt was cut after the Aussie's last match, as his three beautiful children joined him on court. Some saw this as favoritism toward Rusty's compatriot/mentee.

13. What match-fixing? This guy always gave his all.

12. His 2002 Wimbledon triumph over David Nalbandian was the first all-baseliner men's singles championship at the All England Club.

11. Hewitt and Federer have been friendly since age 13.

10. Lleyton proposed to future wife Bec in the evening after dropping the 2005 final in Melbourne to Marat Safin. "I might have lost the Australian Open, but I won in life when she said yes,” he said.

9. His middle name, Glynn, is itself a tribute. It's his father's first name.

8. He announced in 2015 that the following season's major Down Under would be his last pro tennis event.

7. Hewitt won just four matches on tour last year. His ranking at his time of departure is No. 308 in the world.

6. Ferrer, Hewitt's final foe and a mighty plucky fighter in his own right, said afterward, "I don't have idols, but Lleyton is my idol. I have a shirt signed by him seven years ago ... It's the only T-shirt of a tennis player I have."

5. That his five combined wins over Djokovic and Rafael Nadal all came before 2006 is both a testament to Hewitt's longevity and his colleagues' heightened prowess in more recent years.

4. Aside from Hewitt's trip to the 2005 final, six fourth-round finishes are his best showings in Melbourne. In his 20 seasons, he actually lost seven first-round bouts there. (And somewhere Sam Stosur nods knowingly.)

3. He hopes his young son, Cruz, might one day have the opportunity to play in the Aussie Open.

2. His two major singles titles—the 2001 U.S. Open in which he blitzed Pete Sampras and that 2002 Wimbledon—are his greatest memories on court.

1. Those adorable kids of his? They were by his side as he staged his final press conference as an active singles player at a major tournament.

Follow Jon on Twitter @jonscott9.