Hewitt blows hot after the storm

US Open: First Grand Slam win allows Australian to come of age as defeated Sampras takes solace in resurgence of form

Lleyton Hewitt took his dancing feet to 42nd Street yesterday for a lunch at the Australian Consulate to celebrate his triumph at the United States Open. Little more than a week earlier, the 20-year-old from Adelaide had seemed in danger of seeking refuge there after comments he made concerning the removal of an African-American linesman.

Protesting his innocence, Hewitt was given the benefit of the doubt. He responded with brilliant displays of fleet-footed, counter-punching tennis, and ended up making the great Pete Sampras look like Methuselah.

As the arrival of new Grand Slam champions go, Hewitt's dismantling of Sampras, 7-6, 6-1, 6-1, while not as spectacular as the Russian Marat Safin's blitzing of Sampras in straight-sets in last year's final at Flushing Meadows, may prove to be of greater long-term significance.

When Sampras played Safin, the Californian was a Wimbledon champion in search of motivation, having set a record of 13 major singles titles. When Sampras played Hewitt, the 30-year-old American was trying to win his first tournament since defeating Pat Rafter at Wimbledon 14 months ago. His confidence had been restored after impressive victories against Rafter, Andre Agassi and Safin en route to the final, and his serve had not been broken in 87 games. But he no longer had the legs to contend with an opponent 10 years his junior who was playing like Agassi at his best.

Afterwards, as Hewitt spoke eagerly of returning to Australia to prepare for the Davis Cup semi-final against Sweden in Sydney, Sampras tried to console himself by recounting his form against Rafter, Agassi, and Safin. Those victories, he said, had shown him that he was still capable of winning Grand Slam tournaments: "You realise guys are are getting better, younger, faster. You just have to match that. I look forward to coming back for many years." He added, however, that he would review his schedule of tournaments for the rest of the season.

Hewitt, who lost to Sampras in straight sets in the semi-finals here last year (the first and third sets were tie-breaks) won three of their previous eight matches: twice on grass at Queen's Club in London, and once on an indoor hard court in the round-robin group segment of the Masters Cup in Lisbon (albeit after Sampras had barely arrived from California). In the Arthur Ashe Stadium on Sunday evening, Hewitt cracked Sampras's serve in the opening game, won a first-set tie-break, 7-4, and committed only three unforced errors in the last two sets; 13 altogether.

In contrast to many of the leading players nowadays, Hewitt is no giant at 5ft 11in, but packs lots of aggression into his lean, wiry frame, often to the annoyance of opponents. What he showed here, in addition to the quality of his play, was an ability to keep his head when those around him were calling for it.

The incident involving the linesman during his second round match against James Blake, from Yonkers, might have had serious repercussions had it not been accepted as a misunderstanding. The way Hewitt responded, by putting the controversy out of his mind and concentrating on his game, was encouraging.

"You've got to go through some rough times to become a better person and a better player, on and off the court," he said. "Maybe I'll be stronger for it." Glancing at the trophy in front of him, he added: "Maybe this is one of the signs of it. I really have to be proud of myself for the way I've done that under so much pressure. It really shows how mentally tough I've been over the last couple of days."

Hewitt is one of those sporting characters whose attitude attracts mixed feelings from spectators but are beloved of reporters, who need a sprinkling of spice to flavour their stories. "I get pumped up on a court when I feel like it's necessary to get pumped up," he said. "The last three or four matches I haven't shown that much emotion out on the court, and I've had some of my biggest wins.

"I've had to learn how to play best-of-five-set matches, as well. It's a lot different when you come on the Tour and play best-of-three-sets and get pumped up after each point. When you get to the Grand Slams, you can waste energy if you get pumped up on the wrong points. That's something I've had to work on."

As to blocking out negative responses, he said: "I think it's something that I've had to deal with growing in the juniors back home in Adelaide when I was playing older guys. I was No 1 in Australia a couple of years out of my age group. Everyone was out to beat you back then. I had to deal with those pressures. I've been able to take that. I've got stronger in the head as I've got older."

That may be so, but there was a touching moment on Sunday when Hewitt looked like a small boy. "I'm standing there about to hold up the trophy, and Pete's there holding up the runners-up plate. It just didn't quite click for me. If there's anyone you'd want to play if you were going to win a Grand Slam tournament, it would be Pete, one of the greatest player ever to live.

"Four years ago, I was here playing the juniors. No one was out there watching. No one could care less. Now I have the world's television cameras on me." He added: "I still have the junior photo on the front of my badge here."

The Lleyton Hewitt Story

1981: Born Adelaide, Australia, on 24 February.

1985: Starts playing tennis. Hewitt comes from a sporting background, with father Glynn a professional Australian Rules player and mum Cherilyn a state netball player.

1994: Plays Australian Rules until he is 13, but then opts for tennis.

1997: Aged 15 years and 11 months, becomes the youngest qualifier in the history of the Australian Open.

1998: Becomes youngest tour winner at the age of 16 years and 10 months since Michael Chang in 1988, when he wins his home-town title in Adelaide.

1999: Appears in four finals, winning once, and helping his country to the Davis Cup.

2000: Becomes the first teenager to win four titles in a season since Pete Sampras in 1990. Led his country to second straight Davis Cup final, only to lose to Spain. Begins year with a 13-match winning streak with titles in Adelaide and Sydney.

June: Beats Sampras in the final at Queen's but loses in the first round at Wimbledon to Jan-Michael Gambill.

September: Loses in semi-final of US Open to Sampras but pairs up with Max Mirnyi to become the youngest male winner of a Grand Slam doubles crown in the Open era.

2001: May: Leads Australia to their second win in three years at the World Team Championship.

June: Defends his Queen's Club title beating Henman in straight sets in the final, but loses to Nicolas Escude in the fourth round at Wimbledon.

September: Overwhelms Sampras 7-6, 6-1, 6-1 in the final of the US Open to secure his first Grand Slam singles triumph.