Former champion Lleyton Hewitt has outclassed Russian Evgeny Donskoy to reach the last 16 of the the US Open for the first time since 2006.
Hewitt backed up his vintage five-set win over sixth-seeded 2009 winner Juan Martin del Potro with a 6-3 7-6 (7-5) 3-6 6-1 victory over Donskoy at Flushing Meadows on Sunday.
Twelve years after winning the title in New York, Hewitt next meets either German 12th seed Tommy Haas or Russian 23rd seed Mikhail Youzhny on Tuesday for a likely quarter-final crack at world No.1 Novak Djokovic.
Hewitt played within himself but was still much too classy for the 102nd-ranked Donskoy, who was bidding to make the fourth round at a major for the first time.
After confidently winning the opening set, Hewitt snatched the second in a tiebreaker but hit a flat spot in the third before powering through the fourth with two more service breaks to comfortably advance after two hours and 56 minutes.
The 32-year-old has spent a total of 13 sets and more than 10 hours on court over the first week of the championships.
But he said his body was holding up well considering he’s been through three tough matches against three very different players.
“I feel pretty good. I have had three tough matches where I have had to keep bouncing back all the time,” he said.
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Hewitt said playing in New York was always an adrenaline booster.
“It’s always great to come back to New York where it all started for me – I won the doubles in 2000 and singles in 2001,” he said.
“I have played some of my best tennis here. I think the crowd supports me because my personality is the joy of coming out to play.”
Both of his prospective fourth-round opponents are also in their 30s, giving the veteran baseliner a great shot at reaching the last eight for the first time since losing to Andy Roddick seven years ago.
Hewitt has won six of his 10 careers matches against 35-year-old Haas, including one in straight sets en route to the 2004 US Open final.
The Australian holds an even more dominant 5-1 head-to-head record against Youzhny.
In the women’s draw, Serena Williams has avenged the loss that ousted her from the Australian Open, defeating fellow American Sloane Stephens 6-4 6-1 to reach the US Open quarter-finals.
Defending champion and top seed Williams won eight of the last nine games against the 15th seed to advance after 87 minutes to a last-eight matchup against Spanish 18th seed Carla Suarez Navarro, who upset German eighth seed Angelique Kerber 4-6 6-3 7-6 (7-3).
Top seed Williams, who at 31 could become the oldest US Open women’s champion, and Stephens had not played since the 20-year-old prodigy beat the four-time US Open champion 3-6 7-5 6-4 in an Australian Open quarter-final in January.
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The Williams-Stephens relationship was strained then after Stephens accused the 16-time Grand Slam champion of being disrespectful and using intimidation tactics and mind games with her yells of “Come on,” but both women said before Sunday’s match that soured feelings had been repaired.
“It definitely felt like a bigger match because Sloane is such a great player, but I had to stay focused in the moment,” Williams said.
“I just tried the whole time to do what I wanted to, stay calm and stay relaxed.”
Both apologised to each other for wind-blown ball tosses that they did not hit. And when they met at the net after match point, Williams told Stephens, “I love you so much.”
Stephens said she was simply outplayed by the world’s best.
“I thought I played good. I played pretty solid,” Stephens said. “The second set got away from me a little bit.
“She’s number one for a reason. She played pretty well herself. She did a lot of things well. All in all, she did great. I played well. That’s all you can do.”
The showdown of African-American stars, the world number one and the second-highest-rated American player, came in windy conditions at Arthur Ashe Stadium. Both wore expressions of stoic, grim determination during the match.
Red-dressed Williams was thwarted on three early break points against purple-clad Stephens but finally broke through for a 4-2 lead with a forehand service winner return that prompted a quick fist pump from the top seed.
But Williams surrendered a break on a double fault in the next game and Stephens held to level the first set at 4-4, saving a break point with a forehand winner in the process.
Williams held and then broke to win the inaugural set after 52 minutes, finding success on her third break chance in an 18-point game when Stephens swatted a forehand wide.
Stephens forced a break point in the opening game of the second set but Williams saved it with a forehand winner and went on to hold.
Williams finished off a love service third game with a winner that hit Stephens at the baseline and elicited a squeal but no further reaction.
Williams broke for a 3-1 lead when Stephens netted a baseline forehand, the defending champion yelling “Come on” and pumping her fist with delight, then held serve at love for a 4-1 advantage, broke again and ended the match by holding when Stephens netted a forehand.
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