23 Jan 2012

Tomic wishes Hewitt best of luck

7:55 pm on 23 January 2012

It's down to the elder statesman of Australian tennis after Lleyton Hewitt was left as the last local standing at the Australian Open.

And vanquished countryman Bernard Tomic has wished the 30-year-old well after the teenager's Open run was ended by Swiss ace Roger Federer in the fourth round on Sunday night.

Hewitt's unlikely march through the tournament is expected to end at the racquet of world No.1 Novak Djokovic of Serbia - the defending champion awaits the wildcard from Adelaide on centre court on Monday night.

Tomic impressed all in his best Australian Open run and a grand slam performance to rival his Wimbledon quarter-final effort last year.

Now the attention turns to 30-year-old Hewitt, who has defied fitness queries to get this far.

The 19-year-old says they've done a good job to get to the fourth round and while it'll be tough for Hewitt to beat Djokovic, he will have the crowd on his side and will try his heart out.

Others aiming to win spots in the quarter-finals in fourth round matches on Monday are Andy Murray, Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova.