Australian Open Tennis / Tony Keen / 23 January 2010 / Leave a comment Bet Now View Market

Tony Keen thinks Lleyton Hewitt will move into the fourth round of the Australian Open with a win over Marcos Baghdatis, in yet another classic contest.

Lleyton Hewitt (AUS) vs. Marcos Baghdatis (CYP)

If the previous meeting between Lleyton Hewitt and Marcos Baghdatis at the Australian Open in 2008 is anything to go by, this third-round match of the Open promises to be a vertiable clash of the titans.

The 2008 match didn't finish until 4.34am, with Hewitt prevailing in five sets.

This is the Australian's only win over Baghdatis.

The Cypriot claimed both other matches, the most recent in the Sydney International earlier this month, where he prevailed, 4-6 6-2 6-3.

While Hewitt won his second round match in the current Open in straight sets over American youngster Donald Young to book a showdown with Baghdatis, it wasn't the most convincing performance.

Hewitt led 4-1 in the first before Young, ranked No. 195 in the world, won four consecutive games to take a 5-4 lead. The 20-year-old held one set point in the twelfth game on Hewitt's serve before Hewitt went on to take the set in a tiebreaker, which he won, 7-3. In the second set Young led, 4-2, before the Australian won the set, 6-4. Hewitt then finished off the contest in swift fashion, winning the third set, 6-1.

Hewitt cannot afford to be so inconsistent early. If this continues, he will be punished by Baghdatis, who is regarded in the game as one of the best movers and cleanest strikers of the ball.

The key to taking out this game for Hewitt is that he must hold serve as Baghdatis boasts a powerful serve which can be very hard to break. The Australian also needs to be patient with his shot selection and force Baghdatis into making errors.

Hewitt thrives on long and passionate matches, and given the quality of these two players, this contest will be exactly that.

With a parochial home crowd behind him, I expect Hewitt to get up in a five-set thriller.