American Todd Martin, the hero of night-owl fans at Flushing Meadows after his last two victories, faces rising Russian star and sixth seed Marat Safin in the first clash.

Then four-time champion and top seed Pete Sampras locks horns with Lleyton Hewitt, the teenage Australian who beat him in the final of the Stella Artois tournament in June.

At 19, Hewitt already has four titles on the ATP Tour to his name this year but has never gone this far in a Grand Slam before.

Skills

The same goes for Safin, the Moscow-born, Spanish-trained right-hander whose skills are not limited to his favoured clay.

Sampras is aiming to improve his record of 13 Grand Slam titles but is well aware of the damage Hewitt can cause.

"He's one of the best movers we have in the game, he really did some damage to me at Queen's," said the 29-year-old American.

"He's a feisty young guy who's not going to give me any free points.

"He's had a great year, he's won titles, he's beaten top players. I think we know he's one of the guys who's going to be the future of the game."

Dividends

The hours that Martin, the 1999 finalist, is forced to spend in the training room to prepare for each match are now paying dividends for the 30-year old.

And he is winning the hearts of the fans, as well, as his emotions come to the fore at winning moments.

"This is the US Open, that incites a little bit of energy from me," he said. "It's exciting. I'm able to feed off of the crowd."