Ah, Flushing Meadows – such fond memories for Lleyton Hewitt. The grand stage where it all really began for Hewitt.

Back in 2001, just a couple of days before 9-11, Hewitt rocked the tennis world, destroying Pete Sampras in the US Open final like no one had ever destroyed Pete Sampras before.

The pony-tailed 20-year-old was the King of Queens, Hewitt’s incredible performance prompting tennis legend John Newcombe to predict the little Aussie battler would win 10, 12 grand slams … and earn 40 million bucks a year.

Bewdy Newk.

A few months later, still just 21, Hewitt added the Wimbledon crown to his collection, giving him a second career major, and there seemed no stopping Australia’s tennis terrier.

It was raining slams and sponsors were falling at Hewitt’s feet.

Then came Roger Federer …

Rivals since their junior days, Hewitt had Fed’s measure early in their careers, winning seven of their first nine encounters on the pro tour.

Then the Fed Express got serious and things got a bit ugly. The great man has won their past 13 battles, including twice in New York, in the infamous 2004 final mismatch and then in a classic semi-final the following year.

The Swiss superstar has also denied Our Lleyton on four occasions at the business end at Wimbledon and the Australian Open, and another time in a prestigious Masters Cup final.

Yep, in fact all up, poor old Lleyton Hewitt has lost no less than 16 times to the eventual champion or runner-up in grand slams over the past six seasons — mostly to either Fed or Rafael Nadal.

Ouch.

Apart from a beloved Davis Cup, the only trophy of note you’ll find in the Hewitt household from the past few years is wife Bec’s gold logie.

As Andre Agassi once said, with this hungry pair of Federer and Nadal having gobbled up 19 of the last 21 grand slams, it’s been slim pickings for the rest.

But, hey, there is hope.

Apart from that mad, retiring Russian Marat Safin, Hewitt is the only other player on the ATP tour to have won multiple grand slam titles. Maybe he’s not done yet.

And oh how he loves the Big Apple.

He may not have won here in a while, but Lleyton Hewitt has a record to envy in New York.

In the modern era, only Jimmy Connors and Ivan Lendl – two absolute giants of the game – can match Hewitt’s efforts in reaching the quarter-finals or better at Flushing Meadows for seven years in a row. Some feat.

“The US Open is somewhere I’ve played extremely well in the past,” Hewitt said after falling to Federer last week in the Cincinnati Masters quarter-finals.

“I’d like to think if things fall my way I’ve got an outside chance. Hopefully I can get deep in the second week.”

Unfortunately, though, Friday’s draw didn’t fall quite the way Hewitt would have liked, with a third-round match-up with that man Federer almost inevitably cruelling the former champion’s chances of surviving beyond the first week.

Thankfully, Australia’s women have been on fire at the majors this season.

None more so than slammin’ Sam Stosur.

The French Open semi-finalist has arrived at Flushing Meadows with a career-high ranking of No.15 in the world and oozing confidence after knocking over some of the game’s biggest names.

Serena Williams, Ana Ivanovic, Svetlana Kuznetsova, Amelie Mauresmo and Elena Dementieva have all felt the brunt of Stosur’s fearsome power game that has earned the Queenslander an all-important top 16 seeding for the first time at a grand slam.

Stosur opens against Japanese veteran Ai Sugiyama, with the Queenslander’s first major test likely to come from Slovakian 22nd seed Daniela Hantuchova in the third round.

The second-seeded Williams, the titleholder and winner of three of the past four slams, is likely to be awaiting Stosur in the fourth round.

Australian Open quarter-finalist Jelena Dokic, who has been battling mononucleosis, will play Belgian Kirsten Flipkens in her first match in more than a month.

© AAP 2012

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