Hewitt survives collapse to beat Baghdatis in epic

Hewitt blew a 5-1 lead in the fourth set and a match point at 5-2 but recovered to win the decider and line up a meeting with third seed Novak Djokovic of Serbia.

Home favourite Lleyton Hewitt survived a stunning collapse in the early hours of Sunday morning to beat Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis 4-6 7-5 7-5 6-7 6-3 in a titanic third-round clash at the Australian Open.

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In a match that ended at 4.33am, the latest finish at a grand-slam event, Hewitt blew a 5-1 lead in the fourth set and a match point at 5-2 but recovered to win the decider and line up a meeting with third seed Novak Djokovic of Serbia.

Baghdatis, the 2006 runner-up, eased through the first set but Hewitt levelled and came from 5-3 down to win the third set before storming ahead 5-1 in the fourth.

After failing to serve out, 19th seed Hewitt forced a match point at 5-2 but then collapsed horribly as Baghdatis took the set on the tiebreak.

Somehow, though, the Australian recovered his poise, breaking in the fifth game of the decider and holding on for victory after four hours, 45 minutes.