Lleyton Hewitt charged into the fourth round of the Australian Open today after overcoming Juan Ignacio Chela 6-2 4-6 6-1 6-4 in a spiteful match.
Tensions threatened to boil over in the fourth set when Chela became irritated by Hewitt's antics whenever he won a big point.
Chela appeared to spit in Hewitt's direction when the pair changed ends but there was no warning from the umpire and the players shook hands at the end of the match.
"I don't know if there was any more tension," said Hewitt, who set up a last 16 showdown with Spanish teenager Rafael Nadal. "I think we're obviously both very competitive."
The drama overshadowed Nikolay Davydenko destroying Tim Henman's Australian Open campaign and the Russians continued assault on the first grand slam of the year.
Henman surrendered 6-4 6-2 6-2 in a little over two hours allowing Davydenko to join a procession of Russians through to the fourth round in Melbourne.
Six Russians booked their places in the fourth round yesterday and another three joined them today giving them a total of nine, including seven women, in the last 16.
French Open champion Anastasia Myskina got a free-ride when her American opponent, Lisa Raymond, withdrew from their match with a stomach muscle injury.
Elena Dementieva, the French and US Open runner-up, wore down Slovakia's Daniela Hantuchova 7-5 5-7 6-4 in a rollercoaster match that lasted almost three hours and featured 13 service breaks.
Five Americans are through to the fourth round after Venus Williams, Andy Roddick and Lindsay Davenport all won in straight sets, joining yesterday's winners Andre Agassi and Serena Williams.
Venus beat Israel's Anna Smashnova 6-3 6-0, second seed Roddick slammed his way past Austrian Juergen Melzer 6-2 6-2 7-5 and world number one Davenport defeated Czech teenager Nicole Vaidisova 6-2 6-4.
Argentina were also celebrating after three of their four players advanced. David Nalbandian, Guillermo Coria and Guillermo Canas all won but Chela's loss to Hewitt ruined their perfect day.