Only two active men have won majors outside the ATP Big Four of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, and Andy Murray.  Those two men, Lleyton Hewitt and Juan Martin Del Potro, clashed under the lights on Friday for a berth in the third round.

The former US Open champions both had reached this stage with four-set victories that showed resilience as well as vulnerability.  Del Potro’s chronically ailing wrist bore watching as the match progressed, while Hewitt’s serve faltered several times in the first round.  Both men have regrouped after significant injuries in recent years, spurring each of them to appreciate the opportunity to play the game that they love.

Del Potro had started his first match impressively despite later faltering in form, and he produced a similarly strong statement at the outset tonight.  Breaking Hewitt in his initial service game, the Tower of Tandil reaped rewards from his superior weight of shot and more imposing first serve.  Hewitt is not the sort of competitor to let an early setback daunt him, however, and he broke back immediately with the aid of a netcord.

Three more break points awaited in Del Potro’s next service game, but he managed to take control of the rally on all three break points and escape with a hold.  He was not so fortunate when serving at 3-3, badly mistiming a smash that bounced before it reached the net.  Hewitt deserved credit for defending expertly during that point, pinned as he was far behind the baseline.  Not swinging freely through his backhand, Del Potro might have experienced some discomfort in his wrist. 

The fiery energy emanating from Hewitt’s side of the net contrasted with the lethargy of Del Potro, as usually happens in their matches.  Carefully constructing points, Hewitt withstood the first strikes of his younger, stronger opponent as he served out the first set with ease.  Not afraid to go toe to toe with the Argentine’s monstrous forehand, the Aussie relied on placement and depth rather than raw power.

Del Potro had battled through a four-setter in his previous match, but he had operated with the luxury of a one-set lead that time. Now, the pressure would ratchet higher as the world No. 6 needed to come from behind.

Neither man gave an inch on serve early in the second set, Del Potro knowing that he had little margin for error and Hewitt determined not to yield the momentum.  The Argentine’s forehand dictated many of the rallies for better or for worse, interweaving blazing winners with routine errors.  First serves became more reliable for both men, allowing them to set up points more offensively in their service games.  The first real opening arrived with Hewitt serving at 3-4, when Del Potro lunged to smack a volley winner cross-court and responded with his first positive emotion of the match.

Nevertheless, Hewitt escaped the game when Del Potro failed to challenge a groundstroke that landed wide of the sideline but was called in.  The Argentine then found himself in danger on his serve when he ran around to hit a forehand in his backhand corner, which Hewitt punished by drilling a backhand down the line.  Del Potro saved the first of two break points with a bullet forehand but misfired on a forehand, giving Hewitt a chance to serve for a two-set lead.

The veteran warrior had not faced a break point during the entire second set, but he dug himself a 0-30 hole.  Still, Del Potro continued to strike his groundstrokes with less explosiveness than he does at his best, and he could not quite hit through Hewitt’s counterpunching from behind the baseline.  Hewitt then let two set points slip away, one on a double fault.  With the tension rising, Del Potro turned the tide with a scintillating forehand pass and watched another double fault sail long for the break.

That reprieve proved vital, as it turned out.  Del Potro had struck more than twice as many unforced errors as winners through the first two sets, yet he kept his groundstrokes in the court during the twelfth game as Hewitt faltered.  After leading 40-0, the Aussie dropped five straight points to level the match at one set all.

After the hard work that he had expended in building his one-set lead, Hewitt needed to guard against letting that disappointment trickle into what had become a best-of-three match.  For his part, a quietly relieved Del Potro needed to build on his momentum as quickly as possible.  He did this to perfection, sweeping the first six points of the third set and breaking Hewitt for the third time in a row.

The lead would not last.  As he had in the first set, Hewitt recouped that early break to draw level with the Tower of Tandil.  Yet that too did not last.  A bit of divine intervention helped Del Potro with Hewitt serving at 2-3 and deuce.  When the ball trickled across the net, Hewitt sprinted toward it and managed to make contact but could not quite nudge it into play.  A break of serve followed directly, and Del Potro rode that advantage to claim the third set.

During the latter stages of that set, the Argentine’s groundstrokes regularly landed deeper than those of the seemingly tiring Aussie veteran.  Hewitt has won many a marathon before, most notably at the Australian Open, so the battle still was far from over.  He summoned the trainer for a medical timeout before the fourth set began, knowing that a positive start would be crucial. 

The first opening in the fourth set came in the sixth game when Hewitt reacted to a wide serve into the deuce court with a sparkling cross-court return.  Unanswerable serves bailed out the world No. 6 on break points, but he fell behind again in his next service game.  Hewitt’s signature lawnmower fistpump made its first appearance when he ranged to his left along the baseline to find an improbable angle on a backhand pass. 

Converting his third break point of the game, Hewitt had his third opportunity to serve for a set.  He had succeeded in the first set while falling short in the second.  Soon after the match reached the three-hour mark, he yielded on the third break point.  Both men then held serve to reach the first tiebreak of the match and the third that Del Potro had played in two matches. 

Far superior to the Aussie in tiebreaks, the Argentine had accumulated a 15-8 record in them this year.  An early double fault gave his opponent the advantage, however, and Hewitt protected his own serve effectively to roll into the first fifth set on Arthur Ashe Stadium this year.

Del Potro served first in the final set, which meant that the pressure rested on Hewitt to stay even on the scoreboard.   Of course, that was true only as long as the giant continued to hold.  Three straight forehand errors handed Hewitt the first break of the final set, which he consolidated after saving two break points.  His grittiness had produced a strong five-set record, including seven wins in nine fifth sets at the US Open.

By contrast, Del Potro had lost several key fifth sets over the years, including at both of the majors that he had played in 2013.  His forehand leaked 44 unforced errors as he dropped the last six games of the match, double-faulting on match point to end an encounter that had lasted over four hours.  Despite the anticlimax, Hewitt deservedly celebrated the end of a seven-match losing streak against top-10 opponents at the US Open.  His fitness and tenacity proved decisive in outlasting a man of much greater power and much loftier ranking.   

Del Potro, who lost in the first week of both hard-court majors this year, could not build on the momentum from his outstanding Wimbledon semifinal performance.  He remains a key dark horse who can threaten the Big Four at majors but also an enigma susceptible to the unexpected pitfall.

The draw opens wide for Hewitt with only the relatively inexperienced Evgeny Donskoy barring his path to the second week.  Almost as big a winner as Hewitt was world No. 1 Novak Djokovic, now assured a comfortable path to the semifinals with no opponent more formidable than battered veterans Hewitt, Tommy Haas, or Mikhail Youzhny.