Hewitt sees off sixth seed Del Potro at U.S. Open

32-year-old Lleyton Hewitt needed 4 hours 3 minutes to eliminate sixth-seeded Argentinean Juan Martin Del Potro in a second round match, earning himself a spot in the last 32 draw.

"It's an amazing feeling," said Hewitt about his win.

"Keep going and back to it, but a year and a half ago I got told I probably wouldn't play again with the surgery I had. For me, I love being out in that atmosphere, sucking up every second of it."

Hewitt had a great memory in Arthur Ashe Stadium, winning the first of his two Grand Slam titles twelve years ago, and many spectators also had in mind that the current world No.66 used to stay on the No. one throne many years ago, Xinhua reports.

Hewitt had played Del Potro four times before Friday's match, winning two and losing the other two.

The Australian veteran was able to win the first set 6-4, only to see Del Potro win the following two 7-5, 6-3. Hewitt had a chance to serve out the fourth set when the score got to 5-3, but Del Potro broke back to drag his eight year older opponent to the tiebreak where Hewitt fired up to win six straight points to end the tiebreak 7-2.

Del Potro didn't recover from the close loss of the fourth set. The 24-year-old big man kept making mistakes, broken three times to allow Hewitt a 3-2 victory.

"He's a great player and a great fighter," said Del Potro.

"For the second round, it's a really difficult player."

Hewitt would next face 22-year-old Russian talent Evgeny Donskoy.