Venus Williams' return from injury came to a shuddering halt 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 duel.

Third seed Venus had been a heavy favourite 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.

"I am pretty much in shock," Venus said. "I still can't believe it, but that's the way I feel after every loss.

"It is definitely going to settle in this evening. It will be like 'No!', but that's the way it is, you win some, you lose some."

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 the Rod Laver Arena and struggled for accuracy throughout.

"She played good, she had a lot of shots rockin' and rollin' today. It was nice for her," said Venus, runner-up to younger sister Serena in Melbourne last year.

HAPPY CLIJSTERS

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

"I knew I had to come into today's match and really step up to the plate," she said. "I didn't let myself down."

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 on Sunday.

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.

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

"I didn't have any expectations about getting into the tournament because of my injury so being in the second week is nice," Clijsters said.

"I never really thought I would participate in the tournament so it's definitely a bonus."

Nothing would have stopped Hewitt competing in Melbourne. The former Wimbledon and U.S. Open champion is desperate to win his home Grand Slam.

"I'm going to try mate ... I'm going to give it a hell of a shake," he said when asked if he hoped to lift the silverware next week.

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.

"There's not a lot of constructive things I can say about that."

OMINOUS FEDERER

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 wildcard 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.

The bookies' pre-tournament favourite, he has dropped just 20 games so far in Melbourne.