Lleyton Hewitt has set up a fourth-round clash with defending champion Rafael Nadal at the French Open after sweeping past Dominik Hrbaty in straight sets.

Hewitt had to battle hard in an entertaining first set but dominated from then on to beat the Slovak iron-man 7-6 (7-5) 6-2 6-2 in the third round.

Nadal, the favourite to win at Roland Garros again this year, beat Frenchman Paul-Henri Mathieu 5-7 6-4 6-4 6-4 in a titanic struggle.

Hrbaty achieved the first break of the match in the seventh game and served to go up 5-3 but Hewitt immediately broke back, and prevailed in the tiebreak after a 50-minute set.

The Australian had gained the psychological ascendancy, broke Hrbaty at the first two opportunities in the second set, and was untroubled thereafter.

Against most opponents, a two-set lead is as good as the match, but it was important for Hewitt not to ease up against the super-fit Slovak, whose past six matches at grand-slam level - four at the Australian Open and two - had gone to five sets, for a 5-1 record.

Hewitt produced the requisite breaks early in the third set to cruise to victory.

He served 11 aces for the match to Hrbaty's four and also had a much better record on his second serve and return points than the Slovak.

In the men's doubles second round, Australian Wimbledon doubles champion Stephen Huss and his Israeli partner Harel Levy were no match for number two seeds Jonas Bjorkman and Max Mirnyi, going down 6-2 6-1.

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