The fire still very much burning within, Lleyton Hewitt says he’ll be living the dream when he takes on world No.1 Roger Federer for a place in the Australian Open quarter-finals on Monday.

“You play for those moments, to play against the best players – Roger is that,” Hewitt said after progressing with unexpectedly easy third-round win over Marcos Baghdatis on Saturday night.

“This is what motivates you. If you can’t get up for these matches, you shouldn’t be playing the game.”

Hewitt was leading Baghdatis 6-0 4-2 when the Cypriot retired with a shoulder injury just 54 minutes into the much-hyped sequel to their 2008 dawn thriller at Melbourne Park.

But Australia’s 2005 runner-up wasn’t complaining after advancing to the last 16 without dropping a set – and describing his third-round cameo as flawless.

“I didn’t put a foot wrong,” Hewitt said.

“I served great. I moved great. I hit the ball fantastic. I did all the right things on my side of the court.

“I took care of my service games extremely well and was confident and put a lot of pressure on him.

“In terms of that, me going out and hitting more balls or playing out there a few hours longer, I was only going to obviously make a few more mistakes and get negative on myself.

“There’s no point in doing that. I’ll be ready on Monday.”

Hewitt is desperate to snap a nagging seven-year, 14-match losing streak against Federer.

After winning seven of his first nine pro meetings with Federer, Hewitt hasn’t beaten his one-time doubles partner since famously rallying from two sets and a 5-2 down in Australia’s Davis Cup semi-final triumph over Switzerland at Melbourne Park in 2003.

Hewitt joked that Open officials should market Monday’s blockbuster as Davis Cup – and maybe that would help the 28-year-old stop the rot against arguably the greatest player of all-time.

“We’re all human out there, even the bloke I play next is human and I’d like to get one back on him,” the South Australian said.

“Roger’s a great player, there’s no doubt about that. But we played at the US Open in the third round (last year) and I took a set there and it ended up being four tight sets, so I’ll take some confidence from that.

“My ball-striking was fantastic tonight and, if I go out playing like that, I’ll give myself a chance.”

Indeed, Roger Rasheed – commentating on Channel Seven – claimed the 6-0 whitewash of the first set was cleanest set of tennis he’d seed from his ex-charge since Hewitt’s memorable run to the 2005 Open final.

“That’s about as good a package as he’s put together in five years,” Rasheed marvelled after Hewitt tore through the opening set in 21 minutes, conceding a measly six points – with five of those unforced errors.

It was hardly surprising, though, given his flat start after a sapping five-set second-round comeback win over David Ferrer, when Baghdatis hastily called for the trainer to treat his hitting arm and also loosen his legs.

A couple of magic pills seemed to help as Baghdatis finally got on the board to level at 1-1 in the second set.

But the Cypriot showman called it quits after being broken for a fourth time four games later, the forfeit denying the expectant crowd at Rod Laver Arena anything close to a repeat of the drama of two years when Hewitt and Baghdatis last met at the Open.

That third-round classic, which commenced just before midnight and ended at 4.34am, remains in the record books as the latest starting and finishing match in grand slam history.

How the Australians fared on day six of the Australian Open at Melbourne Park.

Men’s singles, round three
22-Lleyton Hewitt (Aus) bt Marcos Baghdatis (Cyp) 6-0 4-2 Ret

Men’s doubles, round two
Carsten Ball (Aus)/Stephen Huss (Aus) lost to Fernando Gonzalez (Chi)/Ivan Ljubicic (Cro) 5-7 7-6(7-3) 7-5

Mixed doubles, round one
Casey Dellacqua (Aus)/Jordan Kerr (Aus) lost to Lucie Hradecka (Cze)/Frantisek Cermak (Cze) 6-3 2-6 10-8

Women’s singles, round three
13-Samantha Stosur (Aus) bt Alberta Brianti (Ita) 6-4 6-1
Casey Dellacqua (Aus) lost to 6-Venus Williams (USA) 6-1 7-6(7-4)

Women’s doubles, round two
Anastasia Rodionova (Aus)/Vera Dushevina (Rus) bt Agnes Szavay (Hun)/Roberta Vinci (Ita) 6-4 3-6 6-2

Men’s doubles, round two
Kaden Hensel (Aus)/Greg Jones (Aus) lost to Ivo Karlovic (Cro)/Dusan Vemic (Srb) 3-6 7-5 7-5

Mixed doubles, round one
Anastasia Rodionova (Aus)/Paul Hanley (Aus) lost to 6-Alisa Kleybanova (Rus)/Max Mirnyi (Blr) 6-3 3-6 10-3

© AAP 2012

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