Canada's Milos Raonic is heading home from the Australian Open.
The hard-serving 21-year-old from Thornhill, Ont., lost 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7-5), 6-3 to Australia's Lleyton Hewitt in third-round-play Saturday, failing to match his impressive run at last year's tournament.
After winning the first set, Raonic fell victim to Hewitt's legendary determination in a match that lasted just over three hours.
"He played quite a bit better than me and it showed," Raonic said. "He was more steady, more constant the whole match. I was more up and down. It's unfortunate in a way because I felt like I had the ability to win, but I just didn't do it."
Raonic said he will take the loss in stride and look make adjustments in his game.
"I'm only going to keep learning. As much as I hate to really look at anything positive out of today, it's a learning experience. There's so much to take from it."
The showcase match was a triumph for the 30-year-old Hewitt, the 2005 finalist at his home Grand Slam.
"He's a tough player," said Hewitt. "There are not that many opportunities to break his serve. I was getting bombarded on his serve, but you have to forget about it and move onto the next point when one comes by you at 226 kilomtres per hour.
"He played his best tennis when he was down."
Raonic, the No. 23 seed at this year's tournament, became a celebrity back home after making a breakthrough at last year's Australian Open.
He made it through qualifying before winning three straight matches to advance to the fourth round. Less than a month later, the youngster was holding up his first career trophy at San Jose.
Raonic began this season with a title in Chennai, India, but came up short against the vast experience of two-time Grand Slam winner Hewitt, playing in his 16th Open.
He learned a lesson in pressure tennis as Hewitt fought back to earn the victory in his first match with the Canadian.
"I'm probably just a little stubborn at the moment now and I won't listen really to too much," Raonic said. "But when the time comes, I'll open up my ears, I'll learn from it and hopefully be better next time.
"I started out nervous, I struggled more with him than I did with anything else really."
Raonic, who will now concentrate on Canada's Davis Cup first-round tie next month in Vancouver, finished with 23 aces but 52 unforced errors. He came to the court with a six-match win streak.
He won the first set before Hewitt, almost a decade older, found his rhythm. The Australian broke for 5-2 and served out the second set to level at a set each, then claimed the third in a tiebreaker after Raonic saved two set points.
The final game for the third set was tight, lasting for four deuces with Raonic saving a pair of match points before Hewitt smashed an overhead for a third chance. He then lobbed a shot over Raonic to take a 2-1 lead.
The former No. 1-ranked Hewitt, who hasn't won a major since Wimbledon in 2002, entered the tournament on a wild card after slumping to a ranking in the 180s during an injury-marred 2011.
Despite his experience -- he has played 50 previous Grand Slam tournaments and this Australian Open campaign beats the record of 15 held jointly by Jack Crawford and Harry Hopman -- Hewitt had difficulty closing out Raonic.
He needed three match points to serve it out, and had to save two breakpoints in the process as Raonic went for everything to stay in the match.
"It's tough serving out any match. A couple of months ago I would have done anything to be in this position, serving to go into the second week at the Australian Open," said Hewitt, who will be 31 next month. "It's just a game, but it's a big bloody game."
Hewitt's next opponent will be his toughest yet: defending champion Novak Djokovic.
Djokovic won the Australian title last year during a 41-match winning streak at the start of the season. The 24-year-old Serb won three of the four majors and finished the year at No. 1, surpassing both Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer.
"Obviously, he's the best player in world at moment, he's there for a reason," Hewitt said. "What he did last year was amazing. I'm going to have to come out here, take it to him, see what happens."
In men's doubles, Toronto's Daniel Nestor and Belarus partner Max Mirnyi dispatched Colombians Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah 7-6 (7-0), 6-2 on Saturday to move into the third round of the Australian Open.
Nestor and Mirnyi were dominant and earned the victory in just under 90 minutes with a combined five aces. They won all 10 of their service games while breaking the South Americans twice from four chances.
The 39-year-old Nestor and his partner are seeded second in the doubles field behind Americans Bob and Mike Bryan, their longtime rivals. They will next take on Italians Potito Starace and Daniele Bracciale.
Nestor and Mirnyi reached the semifinal at Melbourne Park in 2011, with Nestor and his former partner Nenad Zimonjic of Serbia playing the 2010 final.
Nestor's mixed doubles hopes ended before they began as injured partner Maria Kirilenko withdrew with a thigh injury before their opening match.
Serena Williams was so dominant in her 6-1, 6-1 third-round win over Greta Arn at the Australian Open that there's probably only one shot she'll remember more than most.
At 5-0 and a point from winning the first set, Williams lined up in the ideal position for an overhead but then completely shanked it, spraying the ball wide. She screamed and put a hand over her face.
"It was an awkward smash. Then she missed one and I felt a little better," Williams said. "I felt like, 'Am I losing my mind out here?' Everyone sometimes hits a shot that's a little bit insane -- you just got to allow yourself to get over it."
The 92nd-ranked Arn saved another set point before holding serve for the first time. Williams responded by winning the next five games before Arn held again. The match ended in 59 minutes Saturday, on consecutive double-faults by the Hungarian.
"I'm nowhere near where I want to be," said Williams, who has won her last 17 matches at Melbourne Park. "I'm just trying to play through it. A little rusty -- just trying to play through my rust."
Williams has won the Australian Open five times, including back-to-back titles in 2009 and 2010. She didn't get to defend her title last year due to injury.
She badly sprained her left ankle in a warmup tournament at Brisbane two weeks ago, casting doubt again on her participation at Melbourne, but the 13-time major winner has shown no signs of being restricted in her first three matches -- she has only conceded 11 games.
Next up she faces Ekaterina Makarova, who beat fellow Russian and seventh-seeded Vera Zvonareva earlier Saturday.
Williams is the only American left in the singles at the Australian Open after Vania King lost earlier to former French Open winner Ana Ivanovic -- the last U.S. man exited the tournament Friday when John Isner lost in five sets to Spaniard Feliciano Lopez.
"I'm definitely going to keep representing the flag and doing the best I can," Williams said.
Novak Djokovic won the last Australian title at the beginning of a 41-match unbeaten run and finished 2011 with the No. 1-ranking after winning three of the four major titles. He next plays two-time Grand Slam winner Lleyton Hewitt, who reached the round of 16 in his 16th Australian Open after beating No. 23-seeded Milos Raonic of Thornhill, Ont., 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (5), 6-3 on his third match point in the night match.
Against a Frenchman with a reputation for playing long matches, Djokovic wasn't exactly generous with his time.
Djokovic ensured Nicolas Mahut had a 30th birthday he won't quickly forget, routing him 6-0, 6-1, 6-1 in 1 hour, 14 minutes. Mahut lost the longest match in Grand Slam history over 11 hours, 5 minutes against Isner at Wimbledon in 2010.
Mahut was slowed by a left leg injury, but continued the match because the previous matches on Rod Laver Arena were over so quickly.
Djokovic commended him: "I wish him happy birthday and hopefully tonight he can enjoy it."
Djokovic has won 24 straight sets at the Australian Open, and has lost 10 games in his first three matches this time.
"I always played well in Australia. This is the only Grand Slam I won twice," he said. "The conditions are great. They're very suitable to my style of the game, day and night. I'm really looking forward to next week."
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who lost the 2008 final here to Djokovic, beat Frederico Gil of Portugal 6-2, 6-2, 6-2.
Like Djokovic, No. 4-ranked Andy Murray was also up against a French opponent and had no trouble advancing in straight sets, 6-4, 6-2, 6-0 over Michael Llodra.
In all six Frenchmen reached the third round, but only two of them advanced. Tsonga wasted hardly any time becoming the first of them to move into the round of 16 and will next play Kei Nishikori of Japan.
Nishikori became the first Japanese man to reach the fourth round in Melbourne in the Open era with a 4-6, 7-6 (3), 7-6 (4), 6-3 win over unseeded Frenchman Julien Benneteau.
Richard Gasquet, the fourth highest-ranked Frenchman at No. 18, knocked out ninth-seeded Janko Tipsarevic 6-3, 6-3, 6-1. He will play fifth-seeded David Ferrer, who lost the first four games against Juan Ignacio Chela before recovering to win 7-5, 6-2, 6-1.
In the biggest upset of the day, No. 92-ranked Mikhail Kukushkin of Kazakhstan held off an ailing Gael Monfils, seeded 14th, 6-2, 7-5, 5-7, 1-6, 6-4.
With a file from The Associated Press
