Lleyton Hewitt pulled off a stunning five-set win over Juan Martin del Potro at the US Open after a classic late-night thriller between the two former champions on Friday.
Twelve years after he upset Pete Sampras to win the US Open, the 32-year-old Hewitt showed he still has plenty of fight left in him as he floored Del Potro 6-4, 5-7, 3-6, 7-6 (7/2), 6-1 in a four-hour slugfest.
“I don’t know how many years I have left in me so I was just hanging to get back on this court again,” said Hewitt, who also won Wimbledon in 2002, but has not tasted Grand Slam success since and tumbled to 66th in the world rankings.
“This is why I still play, to have moments like this,” he added.
Del Potro, who beat Roger Federer in the 2009 US Open final and was among the favorites to win this year, had his chances, but ran out of gas, unable to keep up with one of his childhood heroes, eight years his senior.
Del Potro became the biggest casualty of this year’s championship, leaving the top half of the draw seemingly at the mercy of Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray, who both overcame wobbles to win on Friday.
Murray experienced a minor hiccup, dropping his first set of the tournament, but recovered quickly to beat Argentine baseliner Leonardo Mayer 7-5, 6-1, 3-6, 6-1.
If there were any heart flutters amongst his army of supporters, who queued up outside Louis Armstrong Stadium just to catch a glimpse of the 26-year-old, they were short-lived as the defending champion rolled up his sleeves and got back to work.
Djokovic kept his perfect record intact after surviving an early test from Germany’s Benjamin Becker on a baking hot day at Flushing Meadows, where gusting winds provided little relief from the heat and made it hard for the players to hit cleanly.
The world No. 1 saved two set points in the opening set before rebounding to win 7-6 (7/2), 6-2, 6-2 and advance to the next round against Portugal’s Joao Sousa, a five-set winner over Jarkki Nieminen of Finland.
The spectator lines were even longer at court 17 when Martina Hingis made her comeback to Grand Slam tennis 16 years after she won the US Open and six years after she retired for a second time.
The former world No. 1 was granted a wildcard entry to the doubles with Daniela Hantuchova, but the pair fell at the first hurdle, losing 6-3, 7-5 to defending champions Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci.
For Hingis it was a return to forget as she finished with back-to-back double faults to close out the match.
Meanwhile, the world No. 1, Serena Williams, steamrolled her way into the fourth round of the women’s singles with a routine 6-3, 6-1 win over Yaroslava Shvedova that did not finish until after 1am yesterday.
She faces a tricky next assignment against Sloane Stephens, who beat her at the Australian Open in January. Stephens earned her place in the fourth round by beating Jamie Hampton 6-1, 6-3 in a battle between two of the US’ brightest young prospects.
China’s Li Na fired down 11 aces to defeat British teenager Laura Robson 6-2, 7-5 to reach the fourth round, while the ultra-consistent Agnieszka Radwanska wore down Russia’s Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-4, 7-6 (7/1).
The pressure was already on Real Madrid coach Xabi Alonso before their 2-1 defeat to Manchester City on Wednesday in the UEFA Champions League raised further questions about his future. Arsenal remain perfect in this season’s competition and three points clear at the top of the standings after a 3-0 win against Club Brugge, while defending champions Paris Saint-Germain were held 0-0 at Athletic Bilbao. The clash between Madrid and City was the standout game of the round amid reports this week that Alonso had lost control of the locker room. Speculation over his position is likely to intensify after the latest
The Olympic flame for the Milan Cortina Winter Games landed in Rome on Thursday following a handover in Greece. The flame was carried in a small lantern aboard an ITA Airways flight between the Greek and Italian capitals. Tennis player Jasmine Paolini — an Olympic gold medalist — and local organizing committee president Giovanni Malago carried the flame off the plane. “I feel honored. It’s an incredible emotion,” Paolini said in brief remarks before the lantern was driven away toward the presidential palace. A 63-day torch relay covering 12,000km is to start in Rome today and wind its way through all 110 Italian provinces
The Kashima Antlers won a record-extending ninth Japanese title on the final day of the J. League season yesterday, holding their nerve to beat the Yokohama F. Marinos 2-1. Watched by Brazilian legend and former player Zico, the Antlers went into the game at their packed home stadium with a one-point lead over Kashiwa Reysol in the table. A goal in either half from Brazilian striker Leo Ceara put the Antlers in control, but Yokohama struck in the first of five minutes of second-half injury time to set up a nail-biting finale, with Reysol winning their game 1-0. The Antlers saw out the
Tony Jefferson intercepted a Jalen Hurts pass in overtime to give the Los Angeles Chargers a 22-19 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles on Monday in an NFL thriller between playoff contenders. Justin Herbert, playing a week after surgery on his broken left (non-throwing) hand, withstood a career-high seven sacks to throw for 139 yards and a touchdown for the Chargers. Cameron Dicker kicked five field goals, including the 54-yard game winner in overtime. The Chargers defenders forced Hurts to throw four interceptions and surrender a fumble for a career-worst five turnovers as the Eagles fell to 8-5 with a third
RSS