Hewitt faces up to Federer after Baghdatis retires

Former finalist Lleyton Hewitt had an easy ride into the fourth round of the Australian Open after Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis retired with a shoulder injury in the second set on Saturday.

The Australian 22nd seed was leading 6-0, 4-2 at the time the unseeded Baghdatis walked to the net to concede the match and give Hewitt an early passage into the round of 16.

Hewitt will now take on top seed and 15-time Grand Slam champion Roger Federer on Monday.

"It's a blessing that I didn't finish really late and have to bounce back from a tough five-set match, because it's hard enough playing Roger when you're fresh," Hewitt said.

It was an anti-climatic end to the match after Hewitt, who lost to Marat Safin here in the 2005 final, had broken the Baghdatis's service four times to control the match on Rod Laver Arena.

The 2006 finalist was treated for a right shoulder injury at the changeover after dropping the opening set to love and was seen taking two painkilling tablets.

But once he was broken in the sixth game of the second set he decided he could not continue and retired.

"I felt some pain in the shoulder," Baghdatis said. "I felt a bit of pain yesterday on the serve, a bit today, and in the match I just couldn't hit the forehand. I couldn't control the ball."

It was massively deflating for the capacity home crowd, with memories of Hewitt's epic third round encounter with Baghdatis at the 2008 tournament.

That game started just before midnight and ran for four hours 43 minutes to be the latest finish in Open history.

Hewitt prevailed 4-6, 7-5, 7-5, 6-7 (7/4), 6-3 but was a spent force for his next match against eventual champion Novak Djokovic.

The Australian was in blinding form in the opening set, breaking Baghdatis's serve three times, hitting five winners, while the Cypriot made 12 unforced in a muted opening.

Baghdatis had come into the match on the back of a seven-match winning streak after winning this month's Sydney International and two rounds here, including a five-setter over Spanish 17th seed David Ferrer.