Drop out
YOUNES AL-AYNAOUI figured to have only a slugger's chance against top-ranked Lleyton Hewitt. He ended up knocking him out of the Australian Open.
"It was just too hard the way he was serving. It was a little bit out of my control," Hewitt, right, said.
Al-Aynaoui, seeded 18th, won 6-7 (4), 7-6 (4), 7-6 (5), 6-4, derailing Hewitt's hopes of becoming the first Australian to win the Grand Slam event since 1976.
"I gave it everything I had and he was too good," said Hewitt, the 2001 US Open and 2002 Wimbledon champion.
Al-Aynaoui, far right, did not drop a service game and gave Hewitt just three break point chances. The Moroccan had 33 aces -- the fastest at 131 mph -- and put 70 per cent of his first serves in play.
He also hit 24 forehand winners and set up match point with a jumping overhead smash. "I hope I didn't give away all the power I have -- there are still more matches left," said the 31-year-old Al-Aynaoui, who earned a standing ovation from the crowd.
On match point, Hewitt's backhand sailed wide, sending Al- Aynaoui into the quarter-finals of a Grand Slam for the third time. He lost to Hewitt last year in the US Open quarters.
"I served well the whole way," Al- Aynaoui said. "The most difficult thing for me is to keep a very high level of play and Lleyton helped me a little bit -- I don't think he played his best."
Al-Aynaoui's power and consistency frustrated Hewitt, who disputed close calls, yelled at the umpire and line judges and got after a courtside photographer for distracting him. Hewitt only lost one service game, double-faulting on break point in the seventh game of the fourth set.
