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Hewitt factfile
Hewitt v Sampras in detail
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Lleyton Hewitt presided over the changing of the guard in world tennis when he humbled legend Pete Sampras in the US Open final.

For the second consecutive year here in the heat of Flushing Meadows, Sampras was humiliated in a Grand Slam final by a 20-year-old with the world at his lightning fast feet.

Last year it was Marat Safin who blew Sampras off the court in straight sets. This time it was Hewitt who embarrassed the greatest player who ever picked up a racket 7-6 6-1 6-1 to become the youngest winner of the US Open since Sampras himself took his first Grand Slam title here 11 years ago.

And when Hewitt picked up the silver trophy after a performance full of vibrancy and verve suddenly Sampras looked old - the tufts of the once thick curly hair seemed a little more wispy, the furrows above those dark eyebrows were more deeply etched like dried up river beds.

Hewitt, the Aussie whose legs are 10 years younger than Sampras' and whose heart is every bit as large, simply showed the elder statesman no respect. He hustled and harried, his mind and body too sharp for the 13-times Grand Slam champion who had suffered a stomach upset in his last match but who had claimed he was "feeling great" for this final.

Incredibly he broke Sampras' serve six times during the match and the man whose fortnight had been consumed by a race storm following his second round match with James Blake, had gone from notorious to victorious in little more than a week.

The match began in the unlikeliest of fashions, Sampras losing serve in the first game of the match to surrender his phenomenal record in this tournament of not losing his serve in 87 games.

The setback had as much to do with the swirling wind as any final nerves, borne out by the fact that Hewitt threw in two double faults in the next game to swap service breaks.

But it was clear it was not the same Sampras - not the one who had drilled thunderous backhands and precision volleys and that hammer of Thor serve to navigate a brutal draw in which he had dispatched three former champions in the shape of Pat Rafter, Andre Agassi and Marat Safin.

The fluency was absent, the movement was more laboured, the sharpness dissipated in the effort which had gone before.

The set went to a tie-break but Hewitt took an early lead, hurrying and harassing a flat-footed Sampras into error upon error, eventually taking it with some comfort, 7/4, accompanied by the trademark pumping fist from the Aussie.

Surely Sampras, the man who has extricated himself from the tightest of situations in the past, would now assert his authority.

But if that first set had troubled the 23,000 home fans packing Arthur Ashe stadium then the second stunned them to the core. The mistakes simply gushed from the Sampras racket, backhands flying long and wide where before they had peppered the lines, volleys thudding into the net as the Hewitt groundstrokes zipped and fizzed viciously in front of him.

Two of those weak volleys gifted Hewitt the first break in the second set in the fourth game. A wasteful volley long and wide gave Hewitt the safety break in the sixth game and he went on to routinely close out a set in which he had just one unforced error.

We waited for the ageing lion to roar as he had done so many times before. "This is your home Pete," shouted a New Yorker in a vain attempt to get their man going.

But when Hewitt broke once more in the first game of the third with another of those fabulous double-fisted cross-court backhands, it seemed there would be no road back for Sampras.

So it proved, Hewitt like the terrier he is not letting go of his first Grand Slam bone for anything.

Sampras attempted to chip and charge but still the legs were weary. There was just no way he could get in position to return Hewitt's relentless assault.

A fifth double fault from Sampras and a flashing forehand cross-court gave the Aussie a second break in the fifth game. And now you sensed tennis fans just wanted Sampras to be put out of his misery.

Pretty soon he was in the seventh game when once again, for the sixth time, Hewitt broke that famed Sampras service and then fell backwards on to the ground in celebration, the only backward step he had taken all night.

Sampras paid tribute to his 20-year-old conqueror at the awards ceremony.

"He was unbelievable," said Sampras. "The kid is so quick. Those legs, I wish I had those legs for this old guy.

"I lost to a great champion who you are going to see for the next 10 years like you saw me. I had a good run but unfortunately ran into a young guy who was too good today."

Hewitt, meanwhile, was in dreamland. "I've dreamed of this moment and of playing in a Grand Slam final and it hasn't sunk in yet," he said. "I got a bit lucky out there and I was seeing the ball very well."

Sampras later confirmed he would not be thinking of retirement and planned to add to his haul of 13 Grand Slams.

"It was a tough draw for me this past two weeks and I worked really hard to get here. I'm disappointing I didn't play better but Lleyton's returns and passing shots were the best I've ever seen and I've played against the best. He has got the quickest first step in the game.

"But this is what I do all the work and the training for. At 30 I'm not old and I feel I have many years left. It's been a couple of years since I won here but I have just run into two guys who were on fire. I'm frustrated but just played against a guy who was too good."