NEW YORK His colleagues from the previous generation have begun to fade away.
Lleyton Hewitt held his own against Andre Agassi and Pete Sampras and Marat Safin back in the day. Hewitt who finished No. 1 in the world in 2001 02 and won two majors including this one has seen Andy Roddick and James Blake retire and face a future without playing tennis.
The stubborn Aussie now 32 has been slowed by every kind of injury you can imagine hands feet hips back knees etc. and surgeries to correct them. And yet although his ranking has slipped to No. 61 he is still out there swinging hat backward determined red face taut with concentration. He is no longer speedy around the court and he never had any power to speak of. He was all touch and feel and his return of serve was once the best in the game. Some of his toes are fused together and he lives with aches that will never go away.
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All Hewitt ever did was try his hardest.
Lately many have wondered why he bothers. He has a gorgeous family an unimpeachable legacy and more money than he can count. Well Friday night and the spectacle at Arthur Ashe Stadium provided your answer.
Hewitt channeling another era went straight at Juan Martin del Potro in a tense meeting of two former US Open champions. And beyond anything you or anyone could reasonably project Hewitt won emphatically in the fifth set.
The astonishing score was 6 4 5 7 3 6 7 6 (2) 6 1 and it required 4 hours 3 minutes.
Twice in the last set Hewitt threw himself across on the hard asphalt completely prone to try and come up with a shot.
Del Potro who looked exhausted at the end played another four hour match in the first round against Guillermo Garcia Lopez his two outings here were the longest played by anyone. In truth there were times when he looked defeated in the very first set.
Nevertheless he wrapped his long arm around Hewitt's head at the net and offered sincere congratulations.
A couple of years ago when I had a couple of foot surgeries I didn't know if I was going to play tennis anymore Hewitt said in his on court interview. I cherish every match I get to play. This is why I play for moments like this.
It's a hell of a lot of fun.
The last point underlined the match's uneven quality the hyper bouncing Hewitt and the weary resigned del Potro. It was a double fault off the racket of the 24 year old Argentine.
For what it was worth del Potro was playing with a seriously sore right wrist the same one that required surgery in 2010 and forced him to miss eight months. He finished with a startling 70 unforced errors and Hewitt actually hit more winners 42 41.
Enlarge Tonight was tough for both of us but in the end he played better was impressive del Potro said afterward of the hero of his youth. He's a great champion a great fighter. For the second round he's a really difficult player.He has a chance to go far in this tournament.
The wrist he acknowledged was bothering him.
It's not an excuse del Potro said. I was trying to the end. Now I have a few days to rest and fix my wrist again. I go home tomorrow.
In some minds del Potro has been playing well enough to win this thing a second time. He took No. 1 ranked Novak Djokovic to the very brink in the semifinals at Wimbledon and probably had a huge hand in delivering the title there to Andy Murray. Only No. 2 ranked Rafael Nadal had a better summer hard court only because he didn't lose a single match.
No one perhaps even Hewitt thought he had a chance to win to win two matches here. But when it was over and he was surveying the four sides of the stadium he looked pretty comfortable holding his arms aloft. Like riding a bicycle a champion never forgets.
A few days ago Hewitt practiced against Russian Evgeny Donskoy the No. 102 ranked player in the world. He had never seen him before and frankly he's not going to start worrying about that exceedingly winnable Sunday match until at least Saturday afternoon.
I don't know how many years I have left in me people keep asking me that question Hewitt said but I'm happy out there keep on putting on a good show.
This is why he can't go home to the Bahamas not yet anyway.
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