Lleyton Hewitt is out of the Australian Open after Juan Ignacio Chela scored sweet revenge in their much-hyped grudge match at Melbourne Park.

Chela, the rugged Argentine who was fined for spitting at Hewitt during their spiteful third-round clash at last year's Open, sent Australia's great hope packing from the championships with a hugely satisfying 6-4 6-4 6-7 (8-10) 6-2 win.

Hewitt's second-round elimination was his earliest exit from a grand slam event since he bombed out in the first round as the top seed and defending champion at Wimbledon in 2003.

The former world No.1 had reached at least the quarter-finals in his last seven majors and lost year's final in Melbourne to mighty Russian Marat Safin.

His unscheduled departure left Melbourne-based wildcards Peter Luczak and Nathan Healey - both second-round winners - to shoulder Australian hopes at the opening grand slam of 2006.

There was no repeat of last year's fireworks between Hewitt and Chela, when Hewitt had the last laugh after prevailing in four tough sets, but the South Australian was clearly upset by the slow speed of the Rebound Ace court.

Hewitt last year claimed playing at Melbourne Park was like playing on the French Open clay and he continued his attack on Australian Open officials this week when he complained about the court speed again being too slow.

The issue was obviously eating away at Hewitt, the third seed screaming in frustration "fix the court" after dropping serve to fall behind 4-5 in the second set.

But Hewitt had bigger problems than the surface when he needed a medical timeout late in the third set to have his injured left ankle heavily strapped.

Typically, the gutsy 24-year-old fought through the pain barrier to win the set, amid unbearable tension inside Rod Laver Arena, on his eighth set point, six of which he squandered during the most desperate of tiebreakers.

But the emotional energy expended during the tiebreaker seemed to deflate Hewitt, who promptly dropped his first service game of the fourth set to concede a 3-0 lead.

The two-time grand slam champion never recovered, Chela pumping his fists in euphoria after blasting another forehand winner to triumph after three hours and 23 gripping minutes.

Despite the previous bad blood between the pair, the match was played in good spirits - just as another of Hewitt's Argentinian sparring partners had predicted it would earlier in the day.

Guillermo Coria, who was also involved in an ugly exchange with Hewitt during last year's Davis Cup tie in Sydney, was right when he said he didn't think there'd be any repeat of last year's unsavoury incidents.

"They are good professionals and they are clear enough not to make the same mistake," said Coria, adding that he was sorry for his part in the Davis Cup blow-up and subsequent fallout.

"I regret all the things that have been said since Davis Cup. I haven't had a chance to talk to him (Hewitt).

"I don't think anything like that is going to happen again. It's no good for tennis."

Hewitt arrived at Melbourne Park this week not overly concerned about being undone, having played just five matches since September - for three wins and losses to lowly-ranked pair Philipp Kohlschreiber and Andreas Seppi in lead-up tournaments in Adelaide and Sydney this month.

Chela will play unseeded Belgian Kristof Vliegen on Saturday for a place in the fourth round for only the second time in 20 grand slam events.

The Argentine described his victory as the greatest win of his career, but he didn't feel extra motivated because of his soured relationship with Hewitt.

"He's a good fighter, and in Australia in front of all the public, it was very special. He's a great player," Chela said.

"They talked a lot about what happened last year, but when I got on to the court I was just thinking about the tennis match and not about what happened last year."

"It's difficult to compare the two years. Last year Hewitt played extremely well. This year he's not at the same level he was last year."

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