Hewitt sees off Canadian Dancevic

MELBOURNE, Jan 18 (Reuters) Lleyton Hewitt kept the home fans happy with a 6-4 6-4 3-6 6-4 victory over Canadian Frank Dancevic in the Australian Open second round today.

Former world number one Hewitt, seeded 19th, looked confident from the start against the world number 88 and eased through the first two sets.

The 22-year-old Dancevic refused to lie down, however, and caused problems for Hewitt with his powerful groundstrokes.

The Canadian had on-court treatment for a back injury during the fourth set and Hewitt took advantage, breaking his serve to clinch victory on his first match point in two hours 48 minutes.

Hewitt was taken to five sets in the first round by American qualifier Mike Russell. The 25-year-old's best Australian Open performance was reaching the final in 2005.

REUTERS PM DS1215