Sam Stosur eased into the fourth round of the French Open with a 6-3 6-2 win over Russian qualifier Anastasia Pivovarova as Lleyton Hewitt went down swinging against Rafael Nadal.
Stosur cleaned up 6-3 6-2 in 62 minutes while Hewitt slogged it out for two and a half hours before Nadal took the honours, 6-3 6-4 6-3.
Following slow starts in the opening two rounds, Stosur dominated her world No.187 opponent and rated it as her most convincing performance of the tournament.
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"I think so, I think the scoreline shows that," she said.
"I played quite well today and was on the ball today and got on and off.
"It is nice to be in the fourth round."
She will play the winner of the clash between four-time champion Justine Henin and 12th seed Maria Sharapova, the match locked at 6-2 3-6 when bad light stopped play.
Earlier Saturday, Jarmila Groth rebounded from a second-set collapse to march into the last 16 of a major for the first with a 6-3 5-7 6-2 win over compatriot Anastasia Rodionova.
But of the efforts of the Australians on day seven, it was Hewitt's performance that will be most remembered.
There were fears that Nadal would humiliate the former world No.1 on centre court for a second straight year in the third round in Paris.
With the crowd behind the underdog, Hewitt chanced his arm and played more aggressively as the match wore on against his Roland Garros roadblock.
It was the fourth time in five French Opens that Nadal had defeated Hewitt and came after the six-time major winner only gave up five games to him at the same stage of last year's tournament.
Playing Nadal on Court Philippe Chatrier is the tennis equivalent of being thrown to the lions but Hewitt forced the four-time champion to pull out some of his best escape tricks from the back of the court.
The cool, windy weather slowed the bounce considerably and turned the match into a real slog, the sort of contest that Hewitt has always relished.
The Spaniard steadily gained dominance but couldn't completely shake off Hewitt with the Australian only a few errors at key moments from really stretching the king of clay in the second set.
A passing shower hit the court in the third set and Hewitt dug in with play being allowed to continue as Nadal powered his way over the line.
"He is so tough to play and so good at dictating play, he always makes you play so many shots," Hewitt said of Nadal.
"You always have to play on the edge, yet execute extremely well."
The world No.33 believed his performance showed he could still mix it with the very best before Wimbledon next month.
"When I play my best and I am injury-free, I think I can push anyone," he said.
