Lleyton Hewitt set up a rematch of his Davis Cup epic against Roger Federer, while Mark Philippoussis is one match away from a similar feat after both Australians recorded impressive wins in the third round of the Australian Open.

Hewitt's hard-fought 7-6 7-6 6-2 win over Spanish teenager Rafael Nadal launched the 15th seed into a showdown with No.2 seed Federer which will reprise the Australian's stunning come-from-behind victory at Melbourne Park in September.

Philippoussis had a much easier time of it against Croatian Mario Ancic, winning 6-4 7-6 6-2 to put him one match away from a quarter-final against world No.3 Juan Carlos Ferrero.

The Australian beat Ferrero, who beat Sweden's Joachim Johansson 6-1 7-6 6-7 6-4 in their third round clash, in another five-set epic in the Davis Cup final decider at Melbourne Park two months ago.

But first Philippoussis must beat Hicham Arazi in his fourth round match, while Ferrero plays Romanian Andrei Pavel.

Hewitt was given a working over by the 17-year-old Spaniard Nadal - rated the next big thing in world's tennis - in a high-quality two-and-a-half hour match.

Nadal, whom countryman Carlos Moya believes will eclipse Hewitt's record as the world's youngest No.1 player, lived up to the hype in the first two sets with a swashbuckling display to push both to tie-breakers.

But Hewitt's experience and big-match temperament pulled him through against Nadal's youthful exuberance, particularly in the tie-breakers.

The opening set took nearly an hour, the second just over that as Nadal produced some quality tennis which forced the 15th seed to dig deep into his repertoire to snuff out any thoughts of an upset.

Hewitt broke once in each set, but Nadal proved he wasn't overawed by breaking back immediately both times and taking 2-0 leads in the tie-breakers.

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