Hewitt's Wimbledon Warinka win Rafael Nadal's defeat was a shock, but Lleyton Hewitt does not concede that his straight sets eclipse of 11th seed Stan Wawrinka was even an upset. "I didn't feel like a total underdog going into the match," he said. Nor did he play like one, other than when scrambling his way out of a couple of tight corners in the classic Hewitt manner. Lleyton Hewitt. Only the consummation proved difficult. Four match points had come and gone, and darkness was enveloping court one when at last Hewitt applied the coup de grace to the ever-mercurial Wawrinka. Antipodean London acclaimed him atonally, prompting Hewitt to exclaim: "Why would you retire when you get to play in atmosphere like that?" The Nadal result was not incidental. It opens wide up Hewitt's section of the draw, leaving only a pair of mid-level seeds between him and a potential quarter-final meeting with Roger Federer. Hewitt would not give fate that opening. "I'll take it one match at a time," he said. The moment that you knock off a decent player, then let your guard down, that's when you're going to go out of the tournament. Wimbledon inspires Hewitt. He has been coming here for 15 years, and says that if at the start of that journey, he knew he would win the tournament only once, and no other beside it, he would would not hesitate. The grass beneath his feet seems to bring alive his every faculty; you can almost feel the prickling under his skin. This year, he is fit, in form and lucky with his breaks, a conjunction he can remember only once in recent years, on these courts at last year's Olympics. His display against Wawrinka was vintage. He bolted to a 4-0 lead in the first set, and from there headed off the Swiss at every pass. Wawrinka is a formidable thumper of the ball, as most would remember from his five-setter with Novak Djokovic at the Australian Open in January. But Hewitt is an even more formidable retriever of it, and that won him the day and the dusk. The crucial game was mid-way through the third set, when Wawrinka lifted himself for a last effort and fashioned a string of break points against Hewitt's serve. The game lasted more than 10 minutes, an eternity on grass, but when at last it was resolved, Hewitt had defended his lead, and Wawrinka would not come again. Some of Hewitt's strokeplay was surely from memory, which should not surprise, for as he said, he has a full bank of them here. There was, of course, the usual theatre; no Hewitt performance would be complete without the exclamations, the glares and one statutory protest against the umpiring. But these days, he knows when to draw the line. In any case, it is all a means to an unchanging end. "I know that I can still play the game," said Hewitt. I compete against the best guys. I play well in the big tournaments, I think. That's why I'm still playing. Sadly, Hewitt again found himself as Australia's lone standard bearer on day one. Compatriots Marinko Matosevic and Matt Reid exited in quick succession on the same court, both still maidens in majors, but contrasting in spirit. Matosevic could find no rhythm on serve against Frenchman Guillaume Rufin, and let it get to him. Bit by bit, his game came apart. It leaves the 27-year-old journeyman as co-holder of a doubtful record: neither he nor Italian Paolo Lorenzi have won any of their 10 matches in major championships, the most of any current players. A marginal line call a crucial moment in the fourth set did Matosevic's head in for good. "That just topped it off," he said. In three minutes with media afterwards, he said "I don't know" eight times and "I haven't got a clue" three times, and did not once look anyone in the eye. It seems to escape him that the game will continue to torment him as long as he torments himself. Matt Reid, conversely, was glass half-full. At 22, he had last won a place in a main draw at a major, and his mother flew in from Sydney, just in time. Against Czech Radek Stepanek, a wily former top tenner, Reid found that everything he hit came back at him, and two sets flew past. It was like playing against a brick wall, which worked for Don Bradman, but not for mortals. "Usually my serve is one of my strengths, but every time I looked up after a serve, he was there, blocking it back, putting it at my feet," said Reid. Over and over again. In the third, he found a foothold and then lost it. But he thrilled to the experience, and can't wait to do it again. Tuesday, the baton passes to Sam Stosur, Matthew Ebden and James Duckworth. Australians in action: Day Two: Court 3 11.30am, first game Ladies' Singles - First round Anna Schmiedlova (SVK) v Samantha Stosur (AUS) [14] Court 3, second game Gentlemen's Singles - First round Bernard Tomic (AUS) v Sam Querrey (USA) [21] Court 5 11.30am, first game Gentlemen's Singles - First round James Duckworth (AUS) v Denis Kudla (USA) Court 14 11.30am, second game Gentlemen's Singles - First round Kei Nishikori (JPN) [12] v Matthew Ebden (AUS)