New York, Aug 29: Juan Carlos Ferrero, Mary Pierce and LLeyton Hewitt all struggled through tough matches on day four of the US Open. Australian Lleyton Hewitt stepped up his U.S. Open challenge on Thursday and earned a 5-7 6-2 6-2 6-4 second round victory over South Korea's Lee Hyung-taik at Flushing Meadows.
The sixth seed has endured a wretched run in grand slams in 2003, falling at the fourth round of the Australian Open, the third round at Roland Garros and the first round at Wimbledon. His personal slump has sent the former world number one sliding to sixth in the rankings and given vent to all sorts of speculation over the 22-year-old's problems. Hewitt was clearly relieved to have put Lee behind him after dropping the first set in a four set battle. Claycourt king Juan Carlos Ferrero suffered a hiccup before recovering his composure to move into the third round. The French Open champion, seeded third, was walloped in the first set of his match against Juergen Melzer before bouncing back to beat the Austrian 1-6 7-6 6-2 6-4.
The Spaniard will next face a fellow baseliner Juan Ignacio Chela. Argentine Chela, seeded 33rd, beat Czech Tomas Berdych 2-6 6-1 6-4 6-3. Also on the men's side Thailand's Paradorn Srichaphan the 11th seed beat Dominik Hrbaty (Slovakia) handily 6-4 6-4 6-3.

Bureau Report