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Lleyton Hewitt displayed the same shots and grit that earned him a US Open trophy a dozen years ago on the way to the No. 1 ranking.
Now 32, and ranked 66th, Hewitt came back to surprise 2009 champion Juan Martin del Potro 6-4, 5-7, 3-6, 7-6 (2), 6-1 Friday night in the second round at Flushing Meadows.
"I don't know how many years I've got left in me. I keep getting asked the question," Hewitt said an on-court interview. "I'm just pumped to get out on this court and try to put on a great show."
The 4-hour, 3-minute match was the ninth time in the past 10 years that two past US Open title winners faced each other in New York. Hewitt was involved four times, losing the other three.
He won the US Open in 2001 by beating Pete Sampras in the final, and then added a Wimbledon title the following year. But he has been troubled by a series of injuries more recently and lost in the first round at four of his last six Grand Slam tournaments.
"A couple years ago, when I had a couple foot surgeries, I didn't know if I was going to play tennis again," Hewitt said.
"For me to be out here competing, it's a ... lot of fun. I cherish every match I get out there. This is why I still play, to have moments like this," he continued. "Sometimes playing the smaller tournaments, it's hard to get up for. It's not hard to get up for here, that's for sure."
Against the sixth-seeded del Potro, who is 24, the Australian repeatedly scrambled along the baseline to stretch for terrific groundstrokes.
"He's a great champion, a great fighter, and for the second round, he's a very difficult player to play," del Potro said.
While the men hit about the same number of winners -- Hewitt had 42, del Potro 41 -- the biggest difference was in the unforced error department. Looking sluggish at times, and particularly ineffective off his generally weaker backhand side, del Potro finished with a whopping 70 errors, 27 more than Hewitt.
"The wrist is not the way I'd like, but it's not an excuse," said del Potro, who did not try to defend his US Open title in 2010, because of a left wrist injury that required surgery. "Now I have a few days to rest."
It was a match filled with momentum shifts. Hewitt got broken when he served for the first set at 5-4, and again when he served for the fourth at 5-3. Still, he eventually managed to claim the latter by playing what he termed "one of the best tiebreaks of my life."
Already ahead 4-0, Hewitt smacked a backhand passing winner down the line from a full stretch, then followed that with a cross-court forehand passing winner to earn set points. After del Potro erased the first with a service winner, he double-faulted to send the match to a fifth set.
And that's when Hewitt really took over, which makes sense considering the two players' records in such lengthy matches. This was the 51st five-setter of Hewitt's career, and he improved to 32-19. Del Potro, meanwhile, dropped to 4-8.
Hewitt next faces 102nd-ranked Evgeny Donskoy of Russia.
"I hit with him a couple of days ago," Hewitt said. "First time I'd ever seen him."
