Hewitt's failure to at least duplicate his 4th round appearance from last season means his ranking will dip when the post-Australian Open updates come.
Lleyton Hewitt, already ranked outside of the 50 on the ATP Tour, is due for a ranking decline with the results from the 2011 Australian Open. Hewitt fell to David Nalbandian in an epic 5 set match in the first round and the result means that the Aussie will only pick up 10 ranking points for his efforts at the Melbourne Park Grand Slam this season.
Since Hewitt earned 180 ranking points last season, his net loss for the event is 170 ranking points and that should him fall to about 70th spot on tour before month's end.
With a ranking so low, he will be very hard pressed to re-ascend as he will be unseeded in the Masters events in the near future and could have early round matches against top players as a result.
Hewitt, however, can still make an impact on tour as, if healthy, he can play with anyone. But the prospect of facing tough draws, not just in the late rounds of events but in the early rounds, does have to make you wonder just how far Hewitt can go back up with his 30th birthday coming up next month.
