El Aynaoui blasts Hewitt out of own backyard

A thick pall of smoke hung over Melbourne Park yesterday from fires blazing in bushland north of the city. In the Rod Laver Arena, the crowd raked over the dying embers of their dream of a homegrown champion at the Australian Open.

Lleyton Hewitt, the world No 1 and sole repository of his compatriots' aspirations, was knocked out in the fourth round 6-7, 7-6, 7-6, 6-4 after a tight, tense match against Younes El Aynaoui. The 21-year-old from Adelaide was blasted off the court by the 31-year-old Moroccan's phenomenal serve. "I fought as hard as I could out there," said Hewitt. "I gave everything I had, but he was too good."

The top seed admitted that he was shattered by the loss. He won Wimbledon last year and the US Open in 2001, but has never managed to reach even the quarter-finals in Melbourne. Last year, weakened by chicken-pox, he was ousted in the first round. Yesterday's defeat left Australia without any players in their home grand slam; the last woman, Nicole Pratt, was beaten by Venus Williams on Sunday.

Australians had hoped that Hewitt could become the first local champion since Mark Edmondson triumphed in 1976. But the inspired performance of the Moroccan No 18 seed put paid to that. He got 70 per cent of his huge first serves in, including 33 aces, and held serve throughout the 3hr 30min match. Hewitt, one of the game's best returners of serve, was virtually emasculated.

Neither man could break serve in the first three sets, both of which went to nerve-jangling tie-breaks. There was just one break of serve during the entire match, to El Aynaoui's benefit, when Hewitt double-faulted in the seventh game of the fourth set, over three hours into play.

El Aynaoui, who lost three of their four previous encounters, said he thought the outcome might come as a surprise. "I mean," he asked, "how many people know me around the world? Not very many. But people who know me would know I had a chance. I kept on believing I could do this." The Barcelona-based player said it was one of his best performances ever on serve.

"Lleyton helped me a little bit," he said. "I don't think he played his best today. I saw I had a chance, and I took the opportunity." He also revealed that his 33 aces will cost him £2,046 – he donates $100 [£62] per ace to a charity founded by King Mohammed VI of Morocco.

El Aynaoui has been playing his best tennis in the twilight of his career. He reached his first grand slam quarter-final in Melbourne in 2000, and his second at the US Open last year before achieving his highest ranking ever – No 22 – at the end of last season.

Both men felt the pressure yesterday; El Aynaoui whacked himself on the head with his racket after throwing two set points before the tie-breaker in the third set. Hewitt disputed line calls, argued with the umpire and abused a courtside photographer for distracting him.

The Moroccan, who won three tournaments last year, said he was badly afflicted by nerves as he served for the match at 5-4 in the fourth set. He served his fifth double fault at 15-0 and gave Hewitt a break point with a wild forehand at 30-30. But El Aynaoui saved it and set up match point with a jumping overhead smash, then forced a backhand error by the Australian to seal the match.

"I knew I hadn't got broken the whole match," he said. "That was not the moment for it to happen, but it almost happened. I realised that I could win the match. That's the nerves."

Hewitt craves the Australian Open title more than any other. "It's really disappointing, there's no other way of putting it, but hopefully I'm going to have a lot more opportunities," he said. "I felt like I played pretty well and I had a lot of chances but, to his credit, he just served huge. I couldn't get any rhythm on my returns." He also acknowledged the additional pressure created by the expectations of a home crowd. Tim Henman would sympathise.

The Moroccan now faces America's Andy Roddick, the No 9 seed, who fought back from a two-set deficit to overcome Russia's Mikhail Youzhny 6-7, 3-6, 7-5, 6-3, 6-2.

Roger Federer, the No 6 seed, was not so fortunate, losing 6-4, 3-6, 6-1, 1-6, 6-3 to David Nalbandian, the Wimbledon runner-up. James Blake, the rising young American talent, was beaten in four sets by Germany's Rainer Schüttler.

The top women's seed, Serena Williams, advanced to the quarter-finals after defeating Greece's Eleni Daniilidou, while Kim Clijsters, the No 4 seed and Hewitt's girlfriend, had an easy win over Amanda Coetzer.