Hewitt regularly took sets off prime Federer though he couldn't beat him.
Let me tell you what Hewitt regularly took from prime Federer.
World class beating.
He got bageled 5 times in 6 matches they played in 2004 alone. Between his DC win over Federer in late 03 (a match Federer should have won rather easily, but choked away) and the Halle 2010 upset, they faced each other 15 times.
In that span, Hewitt "took" a whopping 5 sets from prime Federer. Between the ugly US Open 04 annihilation and another US Open defeat in 05, Hewitt lost 17 straight sets to Roger.
17. Can you count?
So much for regularly taking... world class beating from prime Roger.
Not even Ferrer ever lost that many straight sets to Roger, not even David Ferrer got bageled as many times by Federer.
Prime Federer toyed with Hewitt, and he beat him badly many, many times. The more I look at the numbers, the more the Ferrer comparison is a bit insulting towards David and way too merciful to Lleyton and his misinformed/ deluded / paranoid fans.
And yes, you bogan down the ranks, I actually was a fan. I loved Hewitt's energy, jumping, fist pumping and come on's. It's just that I'm not an Aussie, so I probably don't get as sentimental seeing how unspectacular his talent really was.