Lleyton Hewitt will not take any further an ugly spitting incident by his defeated Australian Open third round opponent Juan-Ignacio Chela, but said the clash between the pair was "sad".

Chela spat towards Hewitt in the tension-filled fourth set of the match, which the Australian won 6-2 4-6 6-1 6-4 to progress to the fourth round.

The Argentine spat in Hewitt's direction during a change of ends, and while he claimed after the match that it was not aimed at his opponent, he apologised and Hewitt forgave him.

"He spat in my direction," Hewitt said.

"He apologised at the net after the match and I accepted his apology.

"I don't think it's the right thing. It's unfortunate because we were having a good dog fight match out there.

"We are both competitive blokes out there and we were going for it - it's sad that something like that happens.

"He apologised to me at the net, we shook hands and I said 'look forget about it mate'.

"It's not good for the game."

When asked whether he would take the incident any further, Hewitt replied no.

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