Hewitt knocked out of Australian Open

Lleyton Hewitt crashed out of the 2009 Australian Open in the first round after Chile’s Fernando Gonzalez secured a gruelling 5-7 6-2 6-2 3-6 6-3 victory in Melbourne today.

Gonzalez, who finished runner up at Melbourne Park in 2007, took three hours and seven minutes to defeat Hewitt at the Rod Laver Arena.

The first set was a tightly-contested affair before Hewitt edged ahead when he broke Gonzalez’s serve in the 12th game to win 7-5.

Hewitt won the first game of the second set but 13th seed Gonzalez rallied to break serve in the third game and then once more before closing out to level the match 1-1.

Gonzalez then moved ahead when he again broke Hewitt’s serve in the third game of the third set and the Australian was unable to fight back to succumb 6-2.

But Hewitt made a breakthrough in the fourth game of the fourth set when he broke serve and then won the next game to lead 4-1.

A double fault by Hewitt with Gonzalez on break point in the sixth game allowed the Chilean to get back into the game but Hewitt immediately recovered by breaking Gonzalez’s service in the next game before clinching the set 6-3.

But Gonzalez outclassed his opponent in the final set as he twice broke Hewitt’s serve before climbing into a 5-2 lead and then closed out the match to progress to the second round.