Lleyton Hewitt moved into the third round of the US Open with a hard-fought four-set win over free-hitting Korean Hyung-Taik Lee.

Hewitt, 22, recovered after losing the first set to prevail 5-7 6-2 6-2 6-4 on Flushing Meadows' Louis Armstrong Stadium.

Despite the lopsided-looking scoreline over the last three sets, it was anything but a case of the sixth-seeded Australian having his own way.

Hewitt was pushed to the death and forced to fight off four break points in a titanic final service game.

He eventually ended the contest doggedly on his fourth match point with an ace down the middle after two hours, 42 minutes.

Lee was never going to be an easy opponent for the 2001 champion.

In January, he joined 11th seed Paradorn Srichaphan as the only Asian player to have won an ATP title when he triumphed at the Adidas International in Sydney.

Srichaphan now looms in the fourth round for Hewitt provided the former world No.1 can overcome either Czech Radek Stepanek or Frenchman Fabrice Santoro, who are both unseeded.

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