Lleyton Hewitt was ousted from the Australian Open after losing to Argentine Juan Ignacio Chela in the second round on Thursday. The two-time Grand Slam champion, who made the finals in Melbourne last year, gave an error-strewn performance against the unseeded Argentine as he lost 6-4, 6-4, 6-7 (8-10), 6-2. The 24-year-old Aussie, who was troubled by an ankle injury he sustained in the second set, conceded 15 break points to lose the first two sets before he struggled to capture the third. The Australian's comeback was short-lived as Chela broke early in the fourth set to avenge his loss to Hewitt in Melbourne last year, and eliminate one of the tournament's strong contenders for the title. "I was giving it everything I had out there, I just wasn't up to it tonight," Hewitt was quoted as saying by the Australian Open official website.
Federer "I felt like my ball striking got better and better as the match went on - it's probably the best I've struck the ball throughout the whole Australian summer.” Hewitt, who came into the Open recovering from an illness and suffering early exits from warm-up tournaments, believes better preparation could have helped him in Melbourne. "It's just a bit disappointing not having those matches before in Adelaide and Sydney to maybe be hitting the ball a bit better coming in," said Hewitt. Chela who knocked out Britain's Andy Murray in the first round, next takes on Belgium's Kristof Vliegen. Seeded winners on Thursday include, top-seeded Roger Federer, fifth-seeded Nikolay Davydenko, sixth-seeded Guillermo Coria, 12th-seeded Dominik Hrbaty and 15th-seeded Juan Carlos Ferrero.