By By James Borg · June 25, 2009 · 6:22 PM

LONDON - Over here on the lawns of London SW19 today, it was the tale of Lleyton and the two Andys: Lleyton Hewitt, the feisty Aussie and 2002 Wimbledon champion; Andy Roddick the 2004 and 2005 runner-up; and Andy Murray, with the world on his shoulders as the British public look to him to reach the Final and lift the trophy with a first British win after 73 years.

Murray revealed today that he even received a letter from the Queen Wednesday. The Queen, who famously is not interested in tennis? What did she say? "She just congratulated me on my win at Queens and wished me luck for the rest of the tournament" he said. So, it's the expectations of the world AND the Queen on his shoulders. No pressure then Andy.

First match on another hot afternoon on Centre Court was Lleyton Hewitt, the only Australian in the men's draw. Formerly a powerhouse of tennis, Australia's production line has shuddered to a halt. We may talk about the decline of American players here at Wimbledon every year, but with 14 players to Australia's one U.S. tennis looks positively buoyant.

But when Hewitt's on form, he can sometimes be worth 14 players. Trouble is, he's back in competition after a lay-off for shoulder surgery and rehabilitation. He was up against the 6-foot-6 Argentine Juan Martin Del Potro. Hewitt had shown signs of his previous form in his first round match in which he posted an impressive 6-4 6-1 6-1 victory over American Robby Ginepri. But today he was up against somebody who was bigger, younger and stronger -- and the odds were on a defeat for the Australian.

The first set went with serve until the sixth game when fifth seed Del Potro was serving at 3-2 to try and level the score - the game went to six deuces after which Hewitt let out his heyday cry of "Cmoooon" as he took the break for 4-2. That set the pace for the rest of the match. The centre court crowd could sense they were seeing the Hewitt of old. The atmosphere, aided by a small contingent of faithful Aussie supporters, changed completely -- reminiscent of a semi or a final. This was just a second round match. Hewitt took the set 6-3 after 45 minutes. In the second set games went with serve and in the 11th game Hewitt broke to lead 6-5, pumping his fist in his usual fashion. Serving for a 2-0 lead he takes the set as a frenzied Centre Court crowd join in the jubilation.

They've missed the fiery play of this Australian, of late. In the third set Del Potro found himself in the position of serving to stay in the match at 3-5. he held serve and that still gave Hewitt the pole position of serving for the match at 5-4. All over now. Or maybe not. The Argentine broke Hewitt to level at 5-5. Hewitt, showing great mental strength and his amazing footwork, broke back immediately for 6-5. Now he was serving to close the match at 6-5. At 40-15 he double faulted on his first match point. No mistake with the second one, as Del Potro's return went long and Hewitt sank to his knees. This was easily Hewitt's best performance in years

The crowd was entirely satisfied with the Australian's performance as was he, too: "I played really well. I had a great game plan and I executed it superbly" he said. That sounds to me like a confident man who's not just satisfied with today's win. Good to be back at Wimbledon? "It feels like a second home -- good to be back in the third round." The crowd cheered him on as he gratefully acknowledged their support. It was like the return of an old friend. Watch out Andy, Andy - and oh ... Roger. Hewitt has well and truly rolled back the years.

Andy Roddick was playing his second round match against the Russian Igor Kunitsyn. It was at this stage last year that he made his exit when he lost to Janko Tipsarevic. Well no problems this year. He took the first two sets comfortably but the Russian sneaked a late break of serve to take the third. Then Roddick's more aggressive play prevented any more of a comeback as he finished the job in hand to take and powered to a 4-0 lead in the fourth to finally take the match 6-4 6-2 3-6 6-2. His assessment: "Got through. You know it was comfortable most of the time. You know, couple things here and there. But overall it was all right."

Venus Williams had no problems as she moved over on to Court One for the second match in defense of her title. The 22-year-old Kateryna Bondarenko (another half of a sister pair) was her victim as she raced through 6-2 6-1 to book a place in the third round. Despite some heavy strapping on her knee she showed no ill effects and wrapped up the match in 69 minutes.

The final match on Centre pitted the "other" Andy, British No. 1 Murray, against the Latvian player Ernsts Gulbis. Murray took the first set comfortably 6-2. His opponent staged a mini fight back only for Murray to clinch that 7-5. In the third set with a break that put him up to 5-3 he broke again as the Latvian served to stay in the match, and wrapped up the final set 6-3 as the adoring Centre Court crowd rose to their feet. Just five unforced errors from Murray in a match that lasted just under 90 minutes.

James Borg, a freelance journalist and award-winning author, has covered the All-England Lawn Tennis Championships for three decades. He lived briefly in Las Vegas and worked at Caesars Palace. He lives in London.