By Mark Staniforth, PA Sport

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Lleyton Hewitt learned from the Australian legends and then went out and joined them by becoming the first man from Down Under to win the Wimbledon title for 15 years.

Hewitt was just six years old when Pat Cash clinched All England Club glory in 1987. On Sunday the world number one produced a merciless performance to demolish Argentinian David Nalbandian 6-1 6-3 6-2 on Centre Court.

When the top seed lifted the famous gold trophy to the heavens he could hardly believe his name would shortly be etched underneath Australian greats like Cash, Rod Laver and Ken Rosewall.

Hewitt said: "I had been talking with Ken Rosewall and Neale Fraser over the last two weeks and that's been great.

"Neale Fraser welcomed me into the Club - that felt pretty good. I remember when I was six, not watching the whole Pat Cash match because I was only just starting to get into tennis. But for me it was still a huge thing to see an Australian win the tournament."

Hewitt also received inspiration from Pat Rafter, loser in the last two finals and one of the greatest Australian players never to have won the Wimbledon crown.

"I spoke to Pat before and after the match. He told me, go out there and do it for Australia. It's a great thing to have a guy who I've looked up to and been in awe of for so many years to go out of the way to give me a call."

Hewitt succeeded where Rafter had failed by grasping control of the match and breaking a plainly nervous Nalbandian in his first two service games.

The Argentinian was the first man in the open era to reach the Wimbledon final on his debut but from that point on there was only going to be one winner of Centre Court's unlikely baseline brawl.

Two rain delays failed to put him out of his stride and when Nalbandian hit his final forehand long, Hewitt fell flat on his back before clambering through the grandstands in a tradition started all those years ago by Cash.

"I had no idea what I was going to do if I won. I went back to my chair but then I thought stuff it, I'll go and do it.

"Pat was always one of my favourite players growing up, the way he showed fire out on the court. I thought, stuff it, I'll copy him out there."

Hewitt's win, his second Grand Slam title at the age of 21, has marked him out clearly as the world's best player and the natural successor to men like Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi whose era is about to end.

Some may be put off by his obvious on-court emotions but Hewitt believes the game badly needs more characters and developing rivalries to take it forward.

He added: "You need personalities. So many people criticised John McEnroe when he was playing, but everyone says now how they miss him now and they would love to see him play again.

"Guys like McEnroe, Sampras and Agassi always had a rivalry going. Rivalries and personalities are definitely good for the game."

Nalbandian admitted he had not played as well as he would have liked but praised Hewitt's performance.

The Argentinian, who goes back onto his more familiar clay courts next week at a tournament in Gstaad, said: "All the pressure was on Lleyton but he's a very good player. In the first set he was perfect.

"I was a little bit nervous when we started, it was not easy for me. I didn't feel very good and I would give myself five out of 10 maybe.

"But it was an honour to play on Centre Court. I will be back next year, don't worry about that."