Hewitt Burns Out in Heat

Lleyton Hewitt's shock defeat in the fourth round here yesterday opened up a clear but testing path for two of the world's other leading young talents, Andy Roddick and David Nalbandian.

Roddick reached the last eight after trailing by two sets against the Russian Mikhail Youzhny, and Nalbandian, who was beaten by Hewitt in last year's Wimbledon final, knocked out the mercurial Roger Federer, who is fast taking the Tim Henman mantle of a talented choker.

Hewitt succumbed to the overwhelming pressure of trying to become the first Australian to win the title since Mark Edmondson in 1976, losing 6-7, 7-6, 7-6, 6-4 against Younes El Aynaoui, who is 10 years older than the 21-year-old world No1 but leapt about the Rod Laver Arena like a spring lamb as he clinched his place in the last eight with a spellbinding display of power serving in a match lasting 3 hours.

El Aynaoui hit 33 aces and got almost three out every four first serves on target. The home crowd appeared every bit as on edge as Hewitt, who is acknowledged as one of the best returners of serve in the game but on this occasion failed to break the Moroccan's serve once. "He just served huge and I could not get any rhythm," said a deflated and disappointed Hewitt, who after seven attempts - the first when he was only 15 - has yet to get beyond the last 16 of the Australian Open.

A pall of smoke, the residue of the bush fires north-east of here, hung over the city for much of the day and temperatures became so uncomfortable that play was called off on the outside courts for a couple of hours. It seemed likely that the retractable roof would be closed, but as Hewitt and El Aynaoui stepped on to the court in mid-afternoon the heat began to relent.

The expectations surrounding Hewitt have been immense and he finally admitted it had affected him. "Whenever you are the No1 seed there is always pressure, but maybe when I'm playing in London or America I don't feel it quite as much," he said.

Hewitt, despite his success on the world stage, has struggled to find his way into the affections of an Australian public who appear wary of his aggressive, self-motivational behaviour on court.

He had played El Aynaoui, ranked No22 in the world, four times and beaten him on three occasions. "Normally he makes a few unforced errors and hits a few double faults but today he was just in the zone," said the Australian.

Hewitt has no huge weapons and relies on his electric speed and never-say-die attitude to impose his will. But he is vulnerable to the big guns and on this occasion the Moroccan's serve and mighty forehand boomed down an impenetrable barrage of win ners, 75 in all. Hewitt offered no excuses. "I can honestly say that I fought as hard as I could, but on the day he was too good and better than me. That's tennis. That happens." But both he and the crowd clearly wished it hadn't.

This was only the third time in 26 grand slams that El Aynaoui, who is based in Barcelona, had reached the last eight, the two previous occasions being here three years ago and in last year's US Open, when he lost in four sets to Hewitt. "I don't think Lleyton played his best today. I saw I had a chance and I took the opportunity," he said.

Roddick appeared to have blown his chances against the 20-year-old Youzhny, but for the first time in his fledgling career the American came back from two sets down. He will play El Aynaoui, for the first time, in the quarter-finals. Last year Youzhny had himself come back from two sets down in the final rubber of the Davis Cup against France in Paris to win it for Russia and this was his first five-set defeat.

In a game of stark fluctuations Nalbandian, from Argentina, defeated Federer 6-4, 3-6, 6-1, 1-6, 6-3 and will now play the German journeyman Rainer Schüttler, who defeated James Blake of the US 6-3, 6-4, 1-6, 6-3.