THE new teen-sensation of men's tennis may be a born-and-bred Aussie but the inspiration behind the name comes from a lot closer to home - Accrington Stanley manager Leighton James, to be precise.

For while the spelling of 16-year-old Lleyton Hewitt may be slightly different to Stanley's boss, his parents named him after the former Burnley and Wales winger because they liked the sound of his name.

Lleyton junior made history Down Under this month when he became the youngest Australian to win a senior men's tour title when he won the Australian Hard Court Championships, beating Andre Agassi in the semi-final.

Since then he has beaten world number four Jonas Bjorkman and is causing a media buzz in the Australian Open, the first Grand Slam event of the year, which began this week. But Leighton senior, capped 54 times by Wales, admits he has never heard of the player. He no idea he could make such an impact on the tennis world but was thrilled to have been the inspiration behind a player tipped for huge success.

"Well I didn't know that," confessed James.

"But I am absolutely thrilled and honoured that such a rising star has been named after me.

"To be honest I have never heard of him before but I will certainly be keeping track of him from now on."

He added: "Perhaps one day we could meet up - maybe after he has just been crowned Wimbledon champion."

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