January 21, 2007	Sunday	Muharram 01, 1428

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MELBOURNE, Jan 20: Lleyton Hewitt's famous resilience was not enough to stop him bowing out of the Australian Open to an inspired Fernando Gonzalez on Saturday. The Australian 19th seed saved three match points before losing 6-2, 6-2, 5-7, 6-4 to the Chilean 10th seed, ending home hopes on a soggy day at Melbourne Park on which Maria Sharapova continued to splutter and Rafael Nadal found top gear.

Nikolay Davydenko, James Blake, Andy Murray, Kim Clijsters and Martina Hingis advanced comfortably but David Nalbandian was on the brink of becoming the second highest men's seed to exit the tournament before sinking Frenchman Sebastien Grosjean.

Gonzalez outclassed Hewitt in the first two sets but the gritty 25-year-old Australian refused to buckle, battling back to produce his best tennis of the match and hold up the classy South American.

Gonzalez earned his first match point in the fourth set with Hewitt serving at 3-5 and he led 40-15 on his own serve at 5-4, only for the fist-pumping Australian to unleash two devastating winners.

Battling the crowd at Rod Laver Arena as much as his opponent, Gonzalez finally sealed victory in two hours 40 minutes with a raking forehand which the former world No 1 just could not get back.

“It's always going to be hard to come back against a guy playing like that, swinging like that. I was nearly able to turn it round but it was always going to be a tough ask,” Hewitt told a news conference after his 11th unsuccessful attempt to win his home Grand Slam.

Gonzalez, who made just two unforced errors in the first two sets, acknowledged his hot streak.

“I played unbelievable for two sets and I was doing whatever I wanted with the ball,” said the 26-year-old Chilean who next plays Blake.

With no play possible on the outside courts due to heavy rain, top seed Sharapova was made to work hard by Italian Tathiana Garbin before securing an unconvincing 6-3, 6-1 victory.

Russian Sharapova, who survived a three-hour first-round match in searing heat, rarely produced her most fluent tennis against the 30th seed but seemed unconcerned after the 69-minute contest.

“I thought it was pretty good,” she said. “I was a bit slow in the beginning of the match. I was letting her play her game a little too much but as the match went on I moved a lot better.”

Sharapova maintained her relaxed demeanour when she told a news conference how she had taken a ride above the Costa Rican jungle on a recent holiday.

“I am very adventurous, I am pretty fearless at those things and I love to get an adrenaline rush,” she said. “It's so fun, you see the trees and the waterfalls.”

The world No 2 next plays fellow Russian Vera Zvonereva who made a mockery of the rankings with a 6-1, 6-2 win over Serb Ana Ivanovic, seeded nine places above her at 13th.

Eighth seed Patty Schnyder beat Australian Alicia Molik 3-6, 6-2, 6-0 and Hewitt's later demise meant there will be no Australian in the fourth round of the singles at Melbourne Park for the first time since 2002.

Second seed Nadal was taken to four long sets by unseeded German Philipp Kohlschreiber in the last round but he overwhelmed Wawrinka, the 31st seed, 6-2, 6-2, 6-2 in just over two hours.

The Spanish world No 2 peppered the Swiss with his full repertoire of baseline shots, sealing victory with a flamboyant whipped forehand down the line.

Eighth seed Nalbandian looked dead and buried at two sets down, 4-5 and 0-40 but he dug himself out to win 5-7, 4-6, 7-6, 6-4, 6-1 in just under four hours.

Russian third seed Davydenko made short work of Fabrice Santoro, easing past the Frenchman 7-6, 6-2, 6-2 and fifth seed Blake knocked out fellow American Robby Ginepri 7-6, 7-5, 6-2 to stay on course to reach his first Grand Slam semi-final.

The 19-year-old Murray, seeded 15th, breezed past Argentine Juan Ignacio Chela 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 to record his third straight-sets victory of the tournament and set up a last-16 clash with Nadal.

Fourth seed Clijsters, playing her last Australian Open, and sixth-seeded Hingis, a three-time former champion, continued their serene progress.

Belgian Clijsters overwhelmed 29th seed Alona Bondarenko of Ukraine 6-3, 6-3 in exactly an hour, and Hingis marched on with a 6-2, 6-1 demolition of Japan's Aiko Nakamura.

Results (prefix number denotes seeding):

Men’s singles:

Third round: 10-Fernando Gonzalez (Chile) beat 19-Lleyton Hewitt (Australia) 6-2, 6-2, 5-7, 6-4; 15-Andy Murray (Britain) beat Juan Ignacio Chela (Argentina) 6-3, 6-2, 6-4; 5-James Blake (U.S.) beat Robby Ginepri (US) 7-6 (9-7), 7-5, 6-2; 3-Nikolay Davydenko (Russia) beat Fabrice Santoro (France) 7-6 (7-1), 6-2, 6-2; 2-Rafael Nadal (Spain) beat 31-Stanislas Wawrinka (Switzerland) 6-2, 6-2, 6-2; 8-David Nalbandian (Argentina) beat 28-Sebastien Grosjean (France) 5-7, 4-6, 7-6 (7-4), 6-4, 6-1.

Women’s singles:

Third round: 8-Patty Schnyder (Switzerland) beat Alicia Molik (Australia) 3-6, 6-2, 6-0; 22-Vera Zvonareva (Russia) beat 13-Ana Ivanovic (Serbia) 6-1, 6-2; 4-Kim Clijsters (Belgium) beat 29-Alona Bondarenko (Ukraine) 6-3, 6-3; 1-Maria Sharapova (Russia) beat 30-Tathiana Garbin (Italy) 6-3, 6-1; 6-Martina Hingis (Switzerland) beat Aiko Nakamura (Japan) 6-2, 6-1.—Reuters