Lleyton Hewitt (Australia)

Lleyton Hewitt (Australia)

Age: 23
Lives: Adelaide, Australia
Plays: Right-handed, double-handed backhand
Grand Slam titles: Two (U.S. Open 2001, Wimbledon 2002)
Record at US Open: 2003-quarter-final, 2002-semi-finalist, 2001-champion, 2000-semi-finalist, 1999-third round.

After finishing the year as the world number one twice in succession (2001 and 2002) the tenacious counter-puncher has rather slipped into the shadows of late.

His game is ideally suited to hard courts, however, and he played impressively in Cincinatti earlier this month, beating Gustavo Kuerten, Tim Henman and Marat Safin on his way to the final where he lost to Agassi.

Despite spending much of the year outside the top 10 few players will relish meeting Hewitt who has played some of his best tennis at Flushing Meadows.