Fans stunned as local hero Hewitt loses

Lleyton Hewitt crashed out to the dismay of the home crowd as Chile's Fernando Gonzalez secured a gruelling 5-7, 6-2, 6-2, 36, 6-3 victory.

Gonzalez, who was runner-up at Melbourne Park in 2007, took three hours and seven minutes to defeat the Australian at the Rod Laver Arena.

It was Hewitt's first opening-round defeat here since 2002, when he was struck down by chicken pox.

Hewitt slipped down the rankings last year after hip surgery and only returned to competition this month.

Gonzalez looked to have the match under control when he won the second and third sets but started to tire and needed a medical timeout in the final set.