The gritty Aussie tried his hardest, but in the end, there was no stopping the claycourt king. No2 seed Rafael Nadal booked his place in the quarterfinals with a 6-2 5-7 6-4 6-2 win over No14 seed Lleyton Hewitt, extending his winning streak on clay to 57.

Despite a shaky start by both players (the match began with three consecutive service breaks) it was Nadal who found his rhythm first. The defending champion held his serve to love in the fourth game, and then stunned the 2001 and 2002 ATP race champion, who had no answer to the Spaniard's slingy, wristy forehands, solid backhands and inch-perfect drop shots.

Despite only proclaiming himself to be "80 per cent fit" after his ankle injury suffered in the first round at Pörtschach two weeks ago, Hewitt moved freely around the court, but failed to combat Nadal's sheer variety of shots, allied to his metronomic consistency.

Nadal broke again to lead 5-2, and served out to take the first set in a comparative stroll on the back of 15 winners.

Hewitt, cheered on by his showbiz wife Bec, made a better fist of the second set, and even seemed to have knocked the young Majorcan off his rhythm for a while. This did not last long, however, and the seemingly inexorable break came in the seventh game as Nadal suddenly upped his game and seemed capable of hitting a winner on every point.

What goes up, however, must come down, and Nadal proceeded to make an absolute hash of his following service game. The winners all became tramline or net shots, and from a seemingly comfortable position, he suddenly found himself serving to save the set. Hewitt pushed him to a deuce, but Nadal held, then raced to a 15-40 lead on Hewitt's serve. The baseball-capped Aussie fought back, however, and held his service to lead 6-5. Game 12 saw two net cords, both of which dropped in favor of the Adelaide righty, and we were level at one set all.

Having lost a set for the second consecutive match, the claycourt maestro decided that it was time to get down to business. His beady-eyed stare became more focused, and his game more aggressive. He forced three break points in the fifth game, but again the Australian rose to the challenge. Fighting fire with fire, he forced Nadal onto the back foot, held his service then earned two break points of his own. As on a number of occasions throughout the match, however, Hewitt put far too many drop shots onto lefty Nadal's forehand, and the chance was gone.

The Australian No14 seed would come to rue this generosity. Nadal showed him how to lay down a proper drop shot, stole a break and then served out to love to take a two-sets-to-one lead.

Nadal took an early stranglehold on the fourth set with a break in game three, but as in the first two sets, the long-haired lefty immediately handed back the initiative, this time double-faulting to allow Hewitt to break back.

After a few dicey moments, though, Nadal's rhythm returned, and he broke Hewitt for the second consecutive game on the back of some powerful forehands. This time, the lead was his for good, and the only thing that would halt his progress momentarily was when a ball-boy had to leave the court with a nosebleed. After Hewitt saved five break points, Nadal broke again, helped by the Aussie double-faulting twice, then served out to secure a four-set win.

Having won 16 titles as a teenager, equaling Bjorn Borg's feat, he was "halted" in his bid for the record by his 20th birthday on Saturday. He may have another achievement in his sights, however - his opponent today was the youngest ever world No1 when he reached the top spot in November 2001, aged 20 years, eight months. Nadal has until next year's Australisets.n Open to sneak ahead of current incumbent Roger Federer, and the way the two are playing, few would bet against them meeting in Sunday's final here.

Nadal defeated Federer in Sundays final in 4 sets

Third Round defeated Dominik Hrbaty (22) 7-6 (7-5), 6-2, 6-2

The remarkable claycourt renaissance of Lleyton Hewitt continued on Saturday, the No14 seed producing his best clay court form in two years to set up a potential fourth round showdown with defending champion Rafael Nadal.

The 25-year-old Aussie gunned down eleven aces and broke down the resistance of Slovakian Dominik Hrbaty 7-6 (5) 6-2 6-2 in just over two hours on Court No1.

"My ball striking was great today. I served probably the best that I've ever served here. I didn't give any cheap points," said Hewitt, who enters the second week of Roland Garros for the fifth time in seven attempts.

And whilst the Aussie's 2006 Roland Garros is fast gaining momentum, Hewitt admits that he was unsure what to expect on the red Parisian clay.

He has played just one event on the surface in two years, having missed the claycourt season last year with foot and rib injuries. He returned from an eight-week hiatus (due to a left calf muscle injury) to compete at the tour event in Austria (a week before the French Open) where he lost in the first round and sprained his ankle in the process.

"I'm not 100 per cent yet but under the circumstances, I'm moving well," said Hewitt, the last remaining Australian in the tournament.

While Hewitt reached successive finals in San Jose and Las Vegas in February, he hasn't beaten a top 50 rival since the US Open last September and hasn't lifted a trophy since the 2005 Sydney International 16 months ago - the longest title drought of his career.

In the first round, Hewitt beat Czech Jan Hernych in four sets. He followed that win with a three set victory over Frenchman Mathieu Montcourt.

Against Hrbaty, Hewitt played a solid first set, trading blows with Hrbaty under the sunny Parisian skies.

In the tiebreaker, the Aussie galloped ahead 6-3 and secured the opener in 50 minutes on a deep forehand approach shot. He threaded 16 winners to Hrbaty's 15.

Hewitt never looked in trouble after the first set, the 14th seed racing ahead to go up 5-1, and snatching total control of the match. In contrast, the 24-ranked Hrbaty dropped his level of play as Hewitt upped the pace.

The former World No1, a two-time Grand Slam winner, flat-footed his opponent many times and relied on his effective serve to get out of trouble.

In the end, Hrbaty simply ran out of steam as he dropped his serve two more times in the final set to go down for good.

Hewitt is slated to meet the winner of the match between defending champion Rafael Nadal and Frenchman Paul-Henri Mathieu.

Second Round defeated Mathieu Montcourt 7-5, 6-3, 6-3

First Round  defeated Jan Hernych 7-6 (7-5), 3-6, 6-2, 6-0

Two-time Grand Slam champion Lleyton Hewitt came through, besting Jan Henrych 7-6, 3-6, 6-2, 6-0.

Hewitt, who like Roddick has been struggling with injuries and had played only one clay court match coming into Roland Garros, was fairly consistent on the day and never got rattled.

"I haven't played, apart from one match, on clay for two years," Hewitt said. "It's obviously tough to come out here and expect to be playing at your best the whole time. But I felt like there were patches today where I played extremely well. He's not an easy player to play against. So it was a good one to get under my belt."

Hewitt said his sore calf has healed but his ankle is still not 100 percent. He's in Nadal's quadrant and knows he'll have to be in top shape if he's to go far.

"It's obviously pretty tough coming into such a big tournament and not having as many matches, let alone this year but last year as well," he said. " That obviously makes things pretty tough. Hopefully I can get better and better with each match."