At 44, Lleyton Hewitt is still producing all the tricks, like the time he lined up as if he was going to crunch a forehand rocket and with sleight of hand, whipped his wrists around the ball and lobbed little Dane Sweeny. Sweeny’s made a living chasing down even the most hopeless of causes. At 170cm, he even yields height to Hewitt but not the bloody sheer mindedness to ensure he tries to swat back every ball.

“There were a couple of times he was going for some shots like a lob or a smash, and I was just imagining him 15 or 20 years ago on TV (doing it),” Sweeny laughed. “It was crazy. Growing up, I definitely idolised him. I remember waking up with my family early to watch him when I was really young.”

Even with his phenomenal speed, Sweeny couldn’t chase down a couple of Hewitt’s inch-perfect lobs, kissing the blue cushion in the corner of Ken Rosewall Arena.

But by the end of the evening, Sweeny had the last laugh, ending Hewitt and 16-year-old son’s Cruz’s feelgood charge in the doubles at the Perpetual NSW Open at Sydney Olympic Park on Thursday.

Sweeny has won eight singles titles in the last four months. It’s easy to why. The standout player on the court, fittingly, finished the match with a crunching forehand winner to seal a second round win alongside Callum Puttergill over the Hewitts 7-5, 6-4.

Lleyton and Cruz stormed back into the match with an early break in the second set after a tense first, but Sweeny took control the longer the match went on, overcoming a minor leg scare.

“I have so much respect for Lleyton and what he’s done in his career,” Puttergill said. “I was so nervous at the start.

“Growing up as an Australian tennis player, he was always an idol. I remember countless nights staying up to watch him play at Wimbledon. He’s a massive idol, probably the biggest in my life. The mentality he’s displayed over his career is probably something that I’ve prided myself on as well.

“It was an honour to be on the court with him.”

It meant double delight for Sweeny, who earlier advanced to the quarter-finals in the singles with a 6-1, 7-6(5) win over Taipei’s Tung-Lin Wu.

Top seed James Duckworth only dropped three games in a rapid win over Matthew Dellavedova while fourth seed Jason Kubler and seventh seed Alex Bolt also had comfortable straight sets wins to reach the last eight.

Maddison Inglis was the biggest casualty on the women’s side after Storm Hunter saved a match point before converting the first of her own in a gripping 6-3, 2-6, 7-6(6) win on Ken Rosewall Arena.

Top seed Kimberly Birrell had no dramas despite a shaky first set in her 7-6(5), 6-1 victory over Japan’s Miho Kuramochi and third seed Talia Gibson is also safely through to the final eight.

Defending champion Emerson Jones, who won last year’s title as a 16-year-old, won the last four games in a 6-2, 7-5 win over Korea’s Eunhye Lee.

“I was feeling a bit flat today, so I kind of had to pick myself up from the very start,” Jones said. “That happens. I was working pretty hard to try to get that set back.

“Although I was down 5-3, I was trying to be positive and get myself mentally up for potentially coming back and getting the set rather than letting it go.”