Hewitt wins backyard brawl

Lleyton Hewitt charged into the fourth round of the Australian Open on Saturday after overcoming Juan Ignacio Chela 6-2, 4-6, 6-1, 6-4 in a ...

Lleyton Hewitt charged into the fourth round of the Australian Open on Saturday after overcoming Juan Ignacio Chela 6-2, 4-6, 6-1, 6-4 in a spiteful match. Tensions threatened to boil over in the fourth set when Chela became irritated by Hewitt8217;s antics whenever he won a big point.

Chela appeared to spit in Hewitt8217;s direction when the pair changed ends but there was no warning from the umpire and the players shook hands at the end of the match.

8220;I don8217;t know if there was any more tension,8221; said Hewitt, who set up a last 16 showdown with Spanish teenager Rafael Nadal. 8220;I think we8217;re obviously both very competitive.8221;

The drama overshadowed Nikolay Davydenko destroying Tim Henman8217;s Australian Open campaign and the Russians continued assault on the first Grand Slam of the year.

Henman surrendered 6-4, 6-2, 6-2 in a little over two hours allowing Davydenko to join a procession of Russians through to the fourth round in Melbourne.

Six Russians booked their places in the fourth round on Friday and another three joined them on Saturday giving them a total of nine, including seven women, in the last 16.

French Open champion Anastasia Myskina got a free-ride when her American opponent, Lisa Raymond, withdrew from their match with a stomach muscle injury.

Story continues below this ad

Elena Dementieva wore down Slovakia8217;s Daniela Hantuchova 7-5, 5-7, 6-4 in a rollercoaster match that lasted almost three hours and featured 13 service breaks. Five Americans are through to the fourth round after Venus Williams, Andy Roddick and Lindsay Davenport all won in straight sets, joining Friday8217;s winners Andre Agassi and Serena Williams.

Venus beat Israel8217;s Anna Smashnova 6-3, 6-0, second seed Roddick slammed his way past Austrian Juergen Melzer 6-2, 6-2, 7-5 and world No 1 Davenport defeated Czech teenager Nicole Vaidisova 6-2, 6-4.

Argentina were also celebrating after three of their four players advanced. David Nalbandian, Guillermo Coria and Guillermo Canas all won but Chela8217;s loss to Hewitt ruined their perfect day.

While it has been over a quarter of a century since an Australian has won either the men8217;s or women8217;s singles title, the home nation is still in the running for both titles this year after Alicia Molik beat Tatina Panova to join Hewitt in the second week.

Story continues below this ad

Henman was the biggest casualty on day six of the hardcourt Grand Slam. The seventh-seeded Briton was an overwhelming favourite to beat Davydenko but failed to mount any real challenge, continuing a history of poor performances at the major tournaments. Reuters