Some time has gone since Lleyton Hewitt was compared to Bjorn Borg for his foot movement, after raising US Open cup in 2001 over Pete Sampras. 20 years old, he already looked like a veteran on the Tour. The illusion was to continue: the Wimbledon triumph, two Masters Cups and two year-end n.1 spots in a row… Lleyton must have thought he could sit back and relax for a moment.

But he chose a bad year. 2003: the upcoming of the new generation. Federer, Roddick, Ferrero. One year later Nadal’s explosion, to end an era with no real leadership. That’s how Lleyton’s dream to become a tennis legend faded away. He let the momentum go, in a sport where you can never lose your grip on your opponents.

Yesterday, a claycourter like Agustin Calleri was enough to beat Hewitt in the second round of the US Open, his beloved tournament, where he had never gone out so early. A perfect match with 65 winners for the Argentine.

But would the Hewitt we all knew, the one who used to scream “C’mon” even after the first point of the match, ever lose on hardcourt to a player he had always beaten comfortably before, the last time even on clay earlier this year in Hamburg? There was a time when the Autralian seemed to have put his bad moment behind him.

In 2005 he had climbed back the rankings up to the third place in the world and he looked the only real threat to Roger Federer, along with Safin. But after his fatherhood, his fighting spirit has definitely gone.

Or maybe Lleyton has thought it’s no longer time to act as the bad boy.

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A 225 kph serve, 2 meters and 6 tall, a big forehand. John Isner, the guy who came out of nowhere this summer to reach the final of the Legg Mason in Washington, could be a serious test for world n.1 Roger Federer in the US Open third round. He gives his opponent no rythm, has great support from the crowd. He could get fired up and play the match of his life in front of the three-time defending champion.

By his physical features and style of play, Isner reminds me of Marc-Kevin Goellner, a German player of the 90’s who claimed some good results against top-players. For example, he beat Stefan Edberg and Ivan Lendl back to back in Nice in 1993. He also won Davis Cup with Germany that same year.

Roger doesn’t seem to suffer big servers (given his outstanding record against Roddick), but that third round could be a match to see.

«It’s just another tournament - I know it’s a Grand Slam, but I lost in the second round last year and the world’s still turning». That’s what Juan Carlos Ferrero said after losing in straight sets to fellow Spaniard Feliciano Lopez in his opening match at the US Open.

It’s been three years by now that «the world keeps turning» for Ferrero, a former n.1 and runner-up in Flushing Meadows in 2003. After suffering chicken pox and mother’s death in 2004, «Mosquito» has never been the same. His forehand doesn’t hurt, he misses a lot from the baseline, his all-court game has lost sharpness.

Most of all on claycourt, where he dominated 2002 and 2003 seasons. No more tournament victories for four years, most of his rare highlights came on faster surfaces. Finalist in Rotterdam 2004 and Vienna 2005 (carpet), Cincinnati 2006 (hardcourt), quarters in Wimbledon (grass) earlier this year.

From his pale looks, one could deduce he’s lost passion for tennis, attitude to hard work. So he was downsized from a champion to a second lead. On the other hand, even if he’s not at the top, «the world keeps turning».

On Sportsillustrated, Jon Wertheim makes his analysis of the men’s seeds chances at the US Open. He foresees a final between Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic, but also admits the Serb has early tests like a first round against Mario Ancic and a likely second against Radek Stepanek.

Jon Wertheim’s forecast on the US Open

I also think Roger is undoubtedly the favourite, while Nadal will lose before the round of the last 16. Here’s my QF forecast:

FEDERER-RODDICK
MURRAY-BLAKE
YOUZHNY-HEWITT
SAFIN-NALBANDIAN

Finally he decided to quit. After a disappointing 2007 (never beyond the second round) that follows up two other miserable years, Tim Henman throws in the towel. The Davis Cup tie against Croatia next month will be his last appearance in professional tennis, he said during a press conference in New York.

It was 1995 when a typical British 21 year old guy amazed the Centre Court in Wimbledon, defeating Roland Garros champion Yevgeny Kafelnikov after saving match points, to go on ’till the quarter-finals and eventually lose only to Todd Martin. The Brits thought they had found the champion they had all been waiting for for thirty years. But Henman was about to step into tennis history only as “the man of the missed chance”, the grass-court specialist who has never won a tournament on grass, the “good, but not good enough guy”.

And four semis at the Championships were not enough to give him the chance of fighting for the title in front of his home crowd at least once in his life. Tim is still biting his nails for the chance missed against Ivanisevic in 2001, when he was two sets to one up and his opponent had completely lost his head, but regained it thanks to a rain delay.

Nevertheless Tim was able to surprise tennis fans: as in 2004, when he reached semis on French clay (he who couldn’t stand the baseline for three shots in a row…), or in 2003 when he won Bercy beating Kuerten, Roddick and Federer. Or even before, in 1995, when he (a Mr. Sportsmanship) hit a ball girl in Wimbledon and was sent-off during a doubles match…

There will still be room for Tim in tennis world, he says he is likely to start a new career in tennis after the birth of his third child: «It is a new beginning. I’d like to think there are going to be a lot new opportunities out there for me». Maybe this time he will be able to catch them.

Also watch
Tim Henman’s timeline in Wimbledon (by the BBC)