The drop shot produced the decisive service break in the fourth set as Dent secured a spot in the third round of the U.S. Open with today's 6-3, 6-2, 4-6, 7-5 victory over Spain's Nicolas Almagro in an emotionally-intense match featuring fine shotmaking from both players.

The lone American man still standing in the top half of the draw, the 25th-seeded Dent will face 2001 U.S. Open champion Lleyton Hewitt for a place in the round of 16. The third-seeded Hewitt holds a 7-6(6), 7-6(3), 6-2 lead over Jose Acasuso in his second-round match.

The Dent-Hewitt match is a classic clash of a serve-and-volleyer charging the net against the fleet-footed counter puncher who will try to win the match by hitting passing shots from behind the baseline. In terms of temperament, Dent and and Hewitt are as similar as Mr. Rogers and Mr. Hyde as Dent tends to limit demonstrative displays to the grunts that accompany his serve, while the fiery, fist-pumping Hewitt can sometimes scream his "Come On!" with the sheer force of a man willing to rupture a vocal cord in shouting down a stadium. Dent is expecting histrionics from Hewitt.

"I understand that Lleyton needs to do that to play well. That's his job, to play well out there," Dent said. "I don't even think about it. I expect it. So if he hits a good shot or if I miss a shot on a big point and it happens, it's great. I just got to play the next point. Doesn't really affect the next point too much...You just got to go out there and do your thing. And at the end of the day, I'm not going to lose the match because he's cheering my bad shots. That's not going to cause me to lose the match. What's going to cause me to lose is his great play or my bad play. You just have to go out there and go about your business."

Through two sets today, Dent did not face a break point. Playing his first career U.S. Open, Almagro hit 52 winners, including a brilliant over-the-shoulder lob winner, that froze Dent. But it was Almagro's mouth, as much as his touch, that deepened Dent's desire.

"It was disappointing losing that third set in the way that I did," Dent said. "It was getting a little heated out there between us as well. He was saying 'vamos' on a couple of my double faults and easy misses. That fired me up a little bit more. I was pumped out there."

Facing the prospect of a fourth-set tiebreak on a warm day, Dent broke serve in the 11th game of the fourth set with an exquisite drop volley slathered with so much spin it behaved like a slinky as it slithered back toward the net after bouncing on the blue court.

Dent will need more than the drop volley to turn back Hewitt. The 24-year-old Dent knows he must improve on today's first-serve percentage and can ill afford the 10 double faults he hit against Almagro.

"I think it's a good opportunity because the courts are pretty quick here compared to everywhere else," Dent said. "But it's going to be a tough match no matter what the conditions. I'm going to have to go out there and be very patient, not give him too many free points. If I'm solid and taking care of my serve, I like my chances out there."

The American serve-and-volleyer beat Hewitt for the first time in Adelaide in January before falling in four sets to the 2002 Wimbledon winner in the fourth round of the grass-court Grand Slam earlier this summer. Conditioning remains a question for Dent, who excels in the best-of-three set format, but often looks as worn out as a man running to the top of the Empire State Building while wearing ankle weights in best-of-five set matches. A determined Dent defeated Gonzalez in a memorable five-set U.S. Open victory two years ago, but then retired from his fourth-round match against Agassi with a strained hamstring. Dent has the game to beat Hewitt, but will need his body to cooperate: he has reached the fourth round just twice in 18 career Grand Slam appearances and was headed off for an ice bath to soak his legs after today's victory.

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