Tennis: Cool Hewitt Through to Last Eight

It might be viewed as a contradiction in terms to suggest that Australia's Lleyton Hewitt, the 2001 US Open champion, was moving quietly along. His stentorian cries of "come on" are enough to wake the dead but yesterday he pattered into the quarter-finals with something approaching a soft-shoe shuffle.

The 6-4, 6-2, 6-2 win over Slovakia's Karol Beck was his fourth successive straight-sets victory and was achieved with the minimum of fuss or drama. The last time he was in such imperious form was when he won the Wimbledon title in 2002, defeating Tim Henman in the semi-finals.

Since those days the 23-year-old Australian, and former world No 1, has been eclipsed by the rise of Switzerland's Roger Federer and Andy Roddick of the US. This left many to wonder if, rather like Martina Hingis, his days at the top had been due to a temporary power vacuum.

Last year Hewitt made his priority the winning of the Davis Cup for Australia, which he duly achieved. Now he is gradually re-building his own career. "I don't care too much about being No 1 again. I've been there and done that. But obviously I want to put myself in the position to add to the two grand slam titles I have won."

It was clear to everyone that his serve was the weakest part of his game and Hewitt has been working hard on increasing its venom. Certainly it took Beck by surprise. "I was thinking before the match that it wasn't that big but he served very well," he said.

Hewitt remains cautious about the immediate future. Since winning the Wimbledon title he has reached only one grand slam semi-final, and that was also in 2002 when he lost to Andre Agassi here.

Belgium's Justine Henin-Hardenne, the reigning women's champion, failed to reach the last eight, losing 6-3, 6-2 to Nadia Petrova of Russia, and with it went her No1 status. Her exit was the earliest for a No1 seed at the US Open since Billie Jean King in 1973, although it hardly constituted a genuine shock.

Henin, who won the Australian Open this year, her third grand slam title, was struck down with glandular fever during the spring. She returned to form in Athens, winning the Olympic gold medal, but has clearly not recovered her strength fully.

France's Amélie Mauresmo, the No2 seed, failed again when the pressure was on, losing 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 to Elena Dementieva in the first quarter-final, despite the Russian serving 15 double faults and needing two time-outs for thigh and stomach problems.