Lleyton Hewitt fancies his chances of beating Roger Federer in Australian Open tie

Australian tennis star Lleyton Hewitt fancies that he can beat top seed and 15-time Grand Slam champion Roger Federer after booking an Australian Open showdown on Monday.

Hewitt had an unexpectedly easy third-round win over Marcos Baghdatis on Saturday, when the Cypriot retired with a shoulder injury.   

The 28-year-old is now desperate to snap a nagging seven-year, where he has had a 14-match losing streak against his long-time rival.

“We're all human out there, even the bloke I play next is human and I'd like to get one back on him,” The Sydney Morning Herald quoted Hewitt, as saying.

“Roger's a great player, there's no doubt about that, but we played at the US Open in the third round (last year) and I took a set there and it ended up being four tight sets. So, I'll take some confidence from that. My ball-striking was fantastic tonight and, if I go out playing like that, I'll give myself a chance,” he added.

Hewitt does have a record of winning seven of his first nine pro meetings with Federer, but hasn't beaten his one-time doubles partner since famously rallying from two sets down in Australia's Davis Cup semi-final triumph at Melbourne Park in 2003.

Federer has produced an efficient display on serve to comfortably progress with a straight sets win over Spain's Albert Montanes. He broke Montanes once in each set and did not allow the 31st seed a single break point en route to a 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 victory.