Lleyton Hewitt will have to wait another 12 months at least before winning his home Grand Slam after he was beaten 6-2, 6-2, 5-7, 6-4 by mercurial Chilean Fernando Gonzalez in the Australian Open third round on Saturday.

The 10th seed put on a superb display of power-hitting from both wings and although the Australian threatened one of his famous comebacks by winning the third set, Gonzalez prevailed in two hours and 40 minutes on Rod Laver Arena.

The Chilean took just 67 minutes to race into a two-set lead, committing just two unforced errors as Hewitt had no answer to his magical mix of powerful groundstrokes and delicate touches.

But the battling Australian held on in the third and grabbed a crucial break to take the set before Gonzalez reasserted himself to win on his fourth match point and book his place in the last 16 for the second time in his career.

The result means that there will be no Australians in the fourth round here for the first time since 2002.

Gonzalez will face American fifth seed James Blake for a place in the quarter-finals.