U.S. Open Men's Draw Preview

Hewitt sighs with relief over Open draw
Rusedski moves to different draw location

By Sandra Harwitt
tennisreporters.net

That big sigh you heard reverberating throughout New York City came from Lleyton Hewitt, who is breathing a bit easier now that his draw has gotten easier.

Hewitt was on tap to face Greg Rusedski in the second round of the U.S. Open, which could not have delighted the world No. 1 since the Briton had just beaten him at the RCA Championships in Indianapolis. But as luck would have it, Rusedski was moved out of his slot in Hewitt's portion of the Open draw and accorded the No. 33 seeded position to play American Alex Kim in the first round when both Thomas Johansson and Guillermo Canas withdrew from the Grand Slam. Finland's Jarrko Nieminen moved into the No. 34 seeded spot and faces Fernando Vicente of Spain in the first round.

Fred Mullane Camerawork USA, Inc. Greg Rusedski

Instead of staring at Rusedski, a left-handed serve-and-volleyer, in the second round, Hewitt will play a qualifier and can breath easy for at least an extra round. Nevertheless, he is likely to come up against James Blake in the third round and we can hardly forget that Hewitt caused some major sparks in their meeting during last year's U.S. Open.

Hewitt denies the remarks he made to the umpire about the African American linesperson, who called him for several foot faults, had racial implications. But it is hard to deny that the comment – "Look at him. You tell me what the similarity is" – didn't refer to the fact that Blake is half African-American and Hewitt thought the linesperson was biased in Blake's favor. Blake, who just won his first career title at Washington D.C., handled the situation in an expected classy fashion, but the incident still dogs Hewitt whenever controversy repeatedly arises around the Australian.

BLAKE IS MAJOR THREAT
Without a doubt, Blake has to be considered a possible threat at this Open, just as Rusedski is a dangerous player for any competitor. As Rusedski pointed out after winning the RCA Championships last Sunday, there isn't going to be any player who is going to be happy to see his name next to theirs in the draw. If you're wondering why Rusedski is sounding so confident – and it's confident not cocky – it's because in the two-week period in Cincinnati and Indianapolis, he beat the three top players in the world – Hewitt, No. 2 Marat Safin and No. 3 Tommy Haas.

How this all plays out: Hewitt's good fortune of having Rusedski removed from his section of the draw, could turn into Pete Sampras' misfortune. Certainly, we don't have to rehash the recent dire straits of Sampras, a former No. 1 and record 13-time Grand Slam champion, who can't seem to buy too many match wins lately. Not only hasn't there been a tournament title since '00 Wimbledon in Sampras' treasure chest – not even an insignificant one – but he's coming off a miserable summer that started with a second round loss at Wimbledon.

Rusedski is just the kind of guy who that will cause Sampras to come on court feeling concerned and unsure. The Briton is a classic serve-and-volley and his left-handed advantage will play on the "Great One's" mind, not to mention that Sampras will surely know he's just beaten the Top 3 players in the world. It's hard to imagine Sampras won't be thinking that the red-hot Rusedski's has a good chance against someone seeded No. 17 at the Open.

FORMER NO. 1 MAY BATTLE

Fred Mullane Camerawork USA, Inc. David Nalbandian

As for other possibilities in this year's draw, look for a fourth round encounter between two former No. 1s – Andre Agassi and Carlos Moya. With the way Moya played to topple Hewitt in the Cincinnati final a few weeks ago, this match could be a great battle.

There's potential fourth round matches between Andy Roddick and Tim Henman, Tommy Haas and either Rusedski or Sampras, and '00 U.S. Open champ Safin and recent Wimbledon finalist David Nalbandian.

Safin, of course, has been playing miserably most of the summer and then pulled out of the RCA Championships with an upper respiratory infection. The Russian could run into Gustavo Kuerten in the second round, which could spell trouble. Kuerten is unseeded at the Open this year and has been struggling to recuperate from hip surgery in February, but if he's in better shape, his mind will be a lot stronger than Safin's has been of late and that means the Russian could be gone from the Open before it practically starts.