Aussies sent packing on dismal Australia Day

MELBOURNE, Australia -- The fireworks lit up the sky in the middle of the match. It was not the good omen Lleyton Hewitt or his nation would have hoped for on Australia Day.

Hewitt and Mark Philippoussis, heroes in November for winning the Davis Cup, both lost in the Australian Open while a celebration of the country's national holiday crackled nearby.

Rattled by a foot fault, Hewitt was beaten by Wimbledon champion Roger Federer 3-6, 6-3, 6-0, 6-4 in the fourth round Monday. Philippoussis was eliminated 6-2, 6-2, 6-4 by Morocco's Hicham Arazi, sending the last two Aussies from the tournament.

"It's obviously disappointing when you hit an ace and get a foot fault called," said Hewitt, a two-time major winner once ranked No. 1. "I still wouldn't have won the match. I ran into a guy who was too good for me tonight."

Hewitt has been intent on winning the Australian Open but has never reached the quarterfinals of his home championship. No Australian has won the title since Mark Edmondson in 1976.

Now he will have to wait, as will 10th-seeded Philippoussis, twice a runner-up in majors.

Philippoussis, who lost to Federer in the 2003 Wimbledon final, failed to convert any of 10 break-point chances. This is the first time Arazi is past the third round at a major since the 1998 French Open.

"We always have good matches, but he didn't play his best tennis today," Arazi said. "It was one of my best matches."

The dual Aussie defeats came on the same stadium court where Hewitt and Philippoussis sent their country past Spain in the Davis Cup final in late November.

Top-ranked Andy Roddick and defending champion Andre Agassi were a win away from a showdown in the semifinals. Roddick faced Marat Safin in his quarterfinal Tuesday. Agassi, on a 25-match streak at Melbourne Park, played No. 9 Sebastien Grosjean, a semifinalist in 2001.

Among the women, No. 2 Kim Clijsters, No. 6 Anastasia Myskina, No. 22 Patty Schnyder and No. 25 Lisa Raymond won fourth-round matches.

On Tuesday, Amelie Mauresmo withdrew before her quarterfinal match against Fabiola Zuluaga because of a torn back muscle.

The fourth-seeded Mauresmo, injured while stretching for a backhand volley Sunday against Australia's Alicia Molik, hit for about 10 minutes on center court with coach Loic Courteau, then buried her face in a towel and began to weep. Federer won nine of 10 games after Hewitt became unsettled by a foot fault that caused him to drop serve in the sixth game of the second set. Federer, seeded second, punctuated his win with an overhead winner on his third match point.

"Maybe I got a little lucky with that foot fault call, but I still felt like I started to play better and better," Federer said. "I was playing much more aggressive."

The last time the pair met at Melbourne Park, Federer was up two sets and 5-2 in the third before Hewitt rallied to beat him in five, inspiring Australia's Davis Cup semifinal victory over Switzerland.

"This is big revenge, yeah," Federer said. "It's very big for me and my career. I'm chasing No. 1 in this tournament. It's me the bad guy who puts Lleyton out of the draw today. I'll get a lot of press here obviously. But my goal is to go further and not just to beat Lleyton."

Federer next faces No. 8 David Nalbandian, who beat Guillermo Canas 6-4, 6-2, 6-1 in an all-Argentine match.

Juan Carlos Ferrero twice needed treatment on his upper left leg in a 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 win over Romania's Andrei Pavel. The Spaniard does not expect the injury to trouble him much.

All four reigning Grand Slam champions have advanced to the quarterfinals: Agassi (Australian), Ferrero (French), Federer (Wimbledon) and Roddick (U.S.)

On the women's side, Raymond reached the quarters for only the second time with a 6-2, 6-0 win over French teenager Tatiana Golovin, a wild card. Raymond upset third-seeded Venus Williams in the third round.

"To be able to play as well as I have here, it feels great," Raymond said. "And hopefully I've got a lot more great tennis left in me for a couple more rounds."

Raymond, who reached the 2000 Wimbledon quarters, will next play Schnyder. Raymond is 0-4 against the Swiss player.

"It would have been pretty easy for me to have the letdown after playing so well against Venus," Raymond said. "I just went out there and just kept playing the way I've been playing."

Golovin, who entered the tournament with a No. 354 ranking and just one win on the tour, celebrated her 16th birthday Sunday.

With Williams out of the tournament and sister Serena not defending her title, No. 1 Justine Henin-Hardenne and No. 2 Kim Clijsters are in good shape to reach the semifinals.

Clijsters beat Silvia Farina Elia of Italy 6-3, 6-3 and will next play Myskina. The Russian rallied past No. 9 Chanda Rubin 6-7 (3), 6- 2, 6-2. Henin-Hardenne, the French and U.S. Open winner last year, faces No. 5 Lindsay Davenport on Tuesday.

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