Nalbandian downs Hewitt

Melbourne - It took five years and another five grueling sets, but David Nalbandian finally got his own back against Lleyton Hewitt.

In the longest match of the tournament so far at 4hr 48min, the Argentine 27th seed fought back to claim the last two sets in a gruelling 3-6, 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (7/1), 9-7 victory over the unseeded, never-say-die Hewitt.

The 29-year-old Argentine ended the former No. 1-ranked Hewitt's hopes for a comeback at his home Grand Slam in the epic first-round struggle.

It went to five sets, as their quarterfinals marathon here in 2005, when Hewitt won en route to the final.

It also reversed the pair's only other Grand Slam meeting, when Hewitt took Nalbandian apart in three sets in the 2002 Wimbledon final.

Both players are looking more like workhorse veterans these days. Hewitt has struggled to regain the form that saw him top the rankings in 2001-02; Nalbandian has 11 career titles, though the Wimbledon final remains his highest Grand Slam achievement.

"I cannot talk, I'm too tired," Nalbandian said courtside after the match, which began around dinner time Tuesday and ended shortly after 1 a.m. Wednesday. "Every time we play it's long matches, tough ones. He's a real fighter."

Both players' fortunes swung wildly during the match. Nalbandian was serving to win in the fourth set, though Hewitt rallied and had two break points before the momentum switched again and the Argentinian won in a tiebreaker. Along the way, Nalbandian had muscle cramps in both the front and back of his legs.

"It's disappointing to come so close and fight for so long and not be able to quite get the win," a clearly frustrated Hewitt said.

Hewitt showed flashes of the fiery temperament that marked his heyday, crashing in aces at key times in the fifth set and giving his signature salute. But he failed to capitalize on his opportunities; he converted only seven of 30 breakpoint chances.

Hewitt, who turns 30 next month, is running out of chances to win his national championship. He shares the record for 15 consecutive appearances at the tournament, and his final's appearance in 2005 is the nearest any Australian man has come to the title since Mark Edmondson won it in 1976.

Hip surgery last year saw Hewitt drop out of the top 50 rankings for the first time since 1999, though he had a positive start to 2011, winning two of his three Hopman Cup singles matches and the Kooyong Classic before coming to the Open.

Collated results from day two of the Australian Open (x denotes seeding):

1st round

Men's singles

Rafael Nadal (ESP x1) bt Marcos Daniel (BRA) 6-0, 5-0 (ret)

Bernard Tomic (AUS) bt Jeremy Chardy (FRA) 6-3, 6-2, 7-6 (7/5)

Feliciano Lopez (ESP x31) bt Alejandro Falla (COL) 6-3, 7-6 (8/6), 6-3

Marin Cilic (CRO x15) bt Donald Young (USA) 6-3, 6-2, 6-1

Mikhail Youzhny (RUS x10) bt Marsel Ilhan (TUR) 6-2, 6-3, 7-6 (7/5)

Blaz Kavcic (SLO) bt Kevin Anderson (RSA) 2-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7/4), 7-6 (7/5)

Michael Russell (USA) bt Matthew Ebden (AUS) 6-3, 6-2, 5-7, 7-6 (11/9)

Oleksandr Dolgopolov (UKR) bt Mikhail Kukushkin (KAZ) 6-3, 6-2, 6-4

Jurgen Melzer (AUT x11) bt Vincent Millot (FRA) 6-2, 6-4, 6-2

Guillermo Garcia-Lopez (ESP x32) bt Michael Berrer (GER) 6-4, 6-4, 3-6, 6-3

Eduardo Schwank (ARG) bt Leonardo Mayer (ARG) 6-2, 6-0, 6-4

Andy Murray (GBR x5) bt Karol Beck (SVK) 6-3, 6-1, 4-2 (ret)

Ryan Sweeting (USA) bt Daniel Gimeno (ESP) 6-4, 6-4, 6-1

Pere Riba (ESP) bt Carsten Ball (AUS) 1-6, 7-6 (7/5), 6-2, 2-6, 6-4

David Ferrer (ESP x7) bt Jarkko Nieminen (FIN) 6-4, 6-3, 1-6, 6-2

Jan Hernych (CZE) bt Denis Istomin (UZB) 6-3, 6-4, 3-6, 6-2

Thomaz Belluci (BRA x30) bt Ricardo Mello (BRA) 7-5, 7-5, 4-6, 3-6, 6-3

Santiago Giraldo (COL) bt Rui Machado (POR) 6-4, 6-3, 5-7, 6-1

Juan Martin del Potro (ARG) bt Dudi Sela (ISR) 7-6 (15/13), 6-4, 6-4

Radek Stepanek (CZE) bt Denis Gremelmayr (GER) 6-3, 6-2, 6-3

Robin Soderling (SWE x4) bt Potito Starace (ITA) 6-4, 6-2, 6-2

Gilles Muller (LUX) bt Simon Stadler (GER) 6-3, 7-6 (7/5), 6-4

Benjamin Becker (GER) bt Ernests Gulbis (LAT x24) 7-6 (7/5), 6-2, 6-4

Illya Marchenko (UKR) bt Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo (ESP) 6-3, 6-4, 6-1

John Isner (USA x20) bt Florent Serra (FRA) 6-3, 7-6 (10/8), 6-3

Milas Raonic (CAN) bt Bjorn Phau (GER) 7-6 (7/3), 6-3, 7-6 (10/8)

Marcos Baghdatis (CYP) bt Grega Zemlja (SLO) 3-6, 7-5, 6-1, 4-6, 6-2

Richard Berankis (LTU) bt Marinko Matosevic (AUS) 6-4, 6-2, 7-5

Michael Llodra (FRA x22) bt Juan Ignacio Chela (ARG) 6-3, 3-6, 6-2 6-4

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA x13) bt Philipp Petzschner (GER) 4-6, 2-6, 6-2, 6-3, 6-4

Andreas Seppi (ITA) bt Arnaud Clement (FRA) 3-6, 2-6, 7-5, 6-3, 6-2

David Nalbandian (ARG x27) bt Lleyton Hewitt (AUS) 3-6, 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (7/1), 9-7

Women's singles

Jelena Jankovic (SRB x7) bt Alla Kudryavtseva (RUS) 6-0, 7-6 (7/5)

Peng Shuai (CHN) bt Kateryna Bondarenko (UKR) 2-6, 6-3, 8-6

Caroline Garcia (FRA) bt Varvara Lepchenko (USA) 7-5, 4-6, 6-3

Ayumi Morita (JPN) bt Alexandra Dulgheru (ROM x27) 6-4, 6-4

Alisa Kleybanova (RUS x24) bt Irina Falconi (USA) 6-1, 6-0

Simona Halep (ROM) bt Anne Kremer (LUX) 6-3, 3-6, 6-2

Petra Martic (CRO) bt Sophie Ferguson (AUS) 7-6 (8/6), 0-6, 6-3

Agnieszka Radwanska (POL x12) bt Kimiko Date-Krumm (JPN) 6-4, 4-6, 7-5

Nadia Petrova (RUS x13) bt Ksenia Pervak (RUS) 6-2, 6-1

Alicia Molik (AUS) bt Roberta Vinci (ITA) 1-6, 6-3, 8-6

Lesya Tsurenko (UKR) bt Patty Schnyder (SWI) 6-2, 6-3

Ekaterina Makarova (RUS) bt Ana Ivanovic (SRB x19) 3-6, 6-4, 10-8

Maria Jose Martinez (ESP x26) bt Greta Arn (HUN) 6-3, 4-6, 6-2

Alize Cornet (FRA) bt Coco Vandeweghe (USA) 6-2, 6-1

Carla Suarez (ESP) bt Christina McHale (USA) 4-6, 6-3, 6-4

Kim Clijsters (BEL x3) bt Dinara Safina (RUS) 6-0, 6-0

Samantha Stosur (AUS x5) bt Lauren Davis (USA) 6-1, 6-1

Vera Dushevina (RUS) bt Maria Elena Camerin (ITA) 6-3, 3-6, 6-1

Anna Chakvetadze (RUS) bt Olga Govortsova (BLR) 6-3, 6-4

Petra Kvitova (CZE x25) bt Sally Peers (AUS) 6-2, 6-4

Flavia Pennetta (ITA x22) bt Anastasia Rodionova (AUS) 6-2, 6-1

Lourdes Dominguez (ESP) bt Johanna Larsson (SWE) 6-2, 6-1

Sorana Cirstea (ROM) bt Mirjana Lucic (CRO) 6-4, 6-2

Shahar Peer (ISR x10) bt Mathilde Johansson (FRA) 6-1, 6-1

Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (RUS x16) bt Kirsten Flipkens (BEL) 6-4, 7-6 (7/4)

Kristina Barrois (GER) bt Akgul Amanmuradova (UZB) 6-4, 6-2

Iveta Benesova (CZE) bt Anabel Medina Garrigues (ESP) 6-0, 6-1

Maria Kirilenko (RUS x18) bt Romina Oprandi (ITA) 6-3, 5-7, 8-6

Lucie Safarova (CZE x31) bt Zhang Shuai (CHN) 7-5, 4-6, 6-1

Klara Zakopalova (CZE) bt Melanie Oudin (USA) 6-1, 3-6, 6-1

Bojana Jovanovski (SRB) bt Kai-Chen Chang (TPE) 7-5, 6-1

Vera Zvonareva (RUS x2) bt Sybille Bammer (AUT) 6-2, 6-1