25 Aug 2009

Hewitt secures US Open seeding

9:56 am on 25 August 2009

Australia's Lleyton Hewitt has secured a US Open seeding after making the biggest rankings rise of any of the world's top 50 tennis players this week.

Hewitt has risen 10 places after his march to the quarter-finals of last week's Cincinnati Masters, where world No.1 Roger Federer underlined his Open title favouritism with a straight-sets final victory over the fourth-ranked Novak Djokovic.

Hewitt's now ranked 32nd, having dropped to as low as 108 in February after missing the last four months of the 2008 season following hip surgery a year ago.

The 28-year-old former world No.1 will be seeded even higher than his ranking in New York because of injuries to several players above him.

Hewitt's Open seeding guarantees the 2001 champion a far smoother passage to the third round as he is certain not to draw any higher-ranked opponents for his first two matches.