MELBOURNE, 25 January 2004 — Venus Williams’ return from injury came to a shuddering halt yesterday when she was hustled out of the Australian Open 6-4, 7-6 by doubles specialist Lisa Raymond in the third round.

Belgium’s Kim Clijsters suffered no such mishap, routing Russian teenager Dinara Safina 6-2, 6-1, and her fiance Lleyton Hewitt fought off the challenge of 17-year-old Rafael Nadal 7-6, 7-6, 6-2.

Hewitt’s Australian Davis Cup partner Mark Philippoussis thrilled his home Melbourne Park crowd with a barnstorming win over Mario Ancic of Croatia but 11th seed Tim Henman’s Open dreams were ended.

The Briton let a two-set lead slip, going down 6-7, 5-7, 7-6, 7-5, 9-7 to Argentine Guillermo Canas in a four-hour, 51-minute epic.

Third seed Venus had been a heavy favorite going into the match, despite this being her first tournament since the Wimbledon final last July, but she was caught cold by 30-year-old compatriot Raymond.

Venus was playing her first tournament for six months after a stomach muscle injury and looked flat from the start.

She committed 44 unforced errors in a mistake-riddled performance on Rod Laver Arena and struggled for accuracy throughout.

Raymond had never been beyond the third round of the Australian Open singles in 10 previous visits and was thrilled.

She next faces 15-year-old wildcard Tatiana Golovin after the French schoolgirl claimed her second seeded scalp in downing Russian Lina Krasnoroutskaya 6-2, 7-6.

Golovin will be 16 when she faces Raymond, however. She celebrates her birthday today.

Second seed Clijsters, who had been an injury doubt coming into the tournament, has been in fantastic form through the first three rounds of the year’s first grand slam and is yet to drop a set.

Yesterday she knocked Safina off in 57 minutes and will next play 20th-seeded Italian Silvia Farina Elia.

Nothing would have stopped Hewitt competing in Melbourne. The former Wimbledon and US Open champion is desperate to win his home grand slam as he said after his victory over Nadal.

He will need to be at his very best in the fourth round, with Wimbledon champion Roger Federer in his path.

Henman hit a total of 100 clean winners in his marathon with Canas, but it was the Argentine who hit the one which counted, a rocket-like forehand past the advancing Briton on his third match point.

Henman was bitterly disappointed. “That was probably a good match to watch but it is about winning or losing,” he said.

Canas saw things differently. “It is amazing, it is two years since I have played a match like this.”

His reward for the superb comeback was a fourth round meeting with compatriot and eighth seed David Nalbandian who out-muscled South Africa’s Wayne Ferreira 6-2, 6-4, 7-5. Local wild card Todd Reid’s heroics were forgotten when he was outclassed 6-3, 6-0, 6-1 by second seed Federer.

Reid, who overcame vomiting and cramps to beat Armenia’s Sargis Sargsian in the second round, never came close to matching the Wimbledon champion, at one point losing 14 games in a row. Federer won in a snappy 74 minutes.