Gale forecast: Hurricane Hewitt in sight

The received wisdom is that the who's who of Wimbledon – as in who on earth is playing who in the last 16 of the men's singles – has paved the way for a post-war British coup. Tim Henman, however, was not the only centre of attraction on Centre Court yesterday. In the setting sun Lleyton Hewitt served notice that he is in the form of his young life.

The world No 1 from Adelaide, who had a long wait before springing into action shortly before 7pm, gave the impression he had a dinner reservation to keep. The unfortunate recipient of the onslaught was the Austrian Julian Knowle who was dispatched post haste 6-2 6-1 6-3 in an hour and a half. Nobody was looking for a suspect on a grassy knoll.

"He gives the fist right in your face,'' Knowle lamented. "That's why people like him or don't like him. I think it's good that he shows emotion. People want to see it but it was really tough. He doesn't give you a point. Against everybody he wants to finish as early as possible but what surprised me was that he served so well. Everything was close to the line.''

In advancing as far as he ever has at Wimbledon, Hewitt was super-charged. The US Open remains his only Grand Slam title but perhaps not for much longer. The 21-year-old, who has yet to drop a set, finds himself going into the second week as one of only two surviving seeds from the top 16. The other, of course, is Henman and the No 4 seed has never beaten Hewitt.

Like Hewitt, Knowle is no stranger to grass, but he's a stranger to the Centre Court and to the whirlwind that engulfed him last night. Knowle, who is 28 and playing in only his third grand slam tournament – he lost in the first round in the previous two – began confidently enough, his serve clocked in excess of 130mph.

It was fairly interesting for the first 10 minutes but then Hewitt, who has been described as a kangaroo in boxing gloves, began to unleash combination punches.

He broke Knowle, who is ranked 94 places lower in the world pecking order, in the fifth game, forcing the first of a string of double faults from the Austrian. It was the signal for Hewitt to dash through his repertoire: there was pace, power, subtlety and no angle was too acute. Even as he had his foot on Knowle's throat the Australian gave his trademark clenched fist salute. There was no sign of the velvet glove.

"I didn't know a lot about my opponent but I was determined to be more aggressive,'' Hewitt said. "I played my game and it felt pretty good. At first players are in awe of the Centre Court but when you start winning a few matches there it feels great. I'm now more experienced and I know what to expect.'' His opponents would like to say the same.

Tomorrow Hewitt the hurricane meets the Russian Mikhail Youzhny for a place in the last eight. With the Americans routed, Youzhny eliminated Nicolas Escudé of France, who had beaten Hewitt in their last two meetings.

While all eyes, certainly in Rio, will be on the three R's for the World Cup final in Yokohama today, Brazil's two S's fought out an intriguing duo on Court Three. The man left standing was Andre Sa who defeated his compatriot Flavio Saretta 2-6 6-4 6-3 1-6 6-1.

Sampras has gone, Safin has gone but Sa soldiers on and tomorrow he will play the Spaniard Feliciano Lopez for a place, as unlikely as it seems, in the quarter-finals. Aged 25 from Belo Horizonte, Sa is making his fifth appearance at Wimbledon and had survived the first round only once previously. Prior to these Championships he had lost five consecutive first-round matches since appearing at Casablanca in April. Clearly it is a case of play it again Sa.

His head-to-head record with his friend Saretta stood at 4-4 and in only the third all- Brazilian clash in grand slam history Sa emerged the conquistador in a tussle between two men for whom grass is a novel experience. Reaching the last 16 here is also new but Sa was more concerned about where to watch Brazil-Germany. He has rented a flat in London. "The TV reception isn't very good,'' Sa said. "We may have to go to a bar.''