Djokovic defeats Hewitt
Third seed Novak Djokovic held off Lleyton Hewitt and a pro-Australian crowd to advance to the quarter-finals of the Australian Open with a straight-sets victory on Rod Laver Arena.
The 20-year-old Serb overcame a lacklustre start before overpowering the local favourite 7-5 6-3 6-3.
Djokovic will now meet fifth seed David Ferrer, who defeated Spanish compatriot Juan Carlos Ferrero 7-5 3-6 6-4 6-1.
Coming off an exhausting five-set marathon against Marcos Baghdatis that ended at 4.34am on Sunday morning, Hewitt showed no signs of tiredness as he broke Djokovic early in the first set to take a 4-2 lead.
But wasted opportunities on Djokovic’s serve in the seventh game - Hewitt held two break points - allowed the Serb back in the contest.
Serving to stay in the set at 5-6, the Australian had a poor service game to hand Djokovic the set in exactly an hour.
Hewitt broke Djokovic again early in the second set but gave it straight back in the next game as the Serb started to find his range from the back of the court.
The world No.3 broke Hewitt once more in the sixth game before holding his nerve to close out the set 6-3.
The third set was a mere formality with Djokovic looking more comfortable as the match progressed, easing to victory in almost two-and-a-half hours. AO