<p>Playing on grass at the Royal Sydney Golf Club, 18-year-old Bernard Tomic gave the home side an early lead when he beat Stanislas Wawrinka 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-3.<br /><br />Federer then found himself under enormous pressure after losing the first set to a typically dogged Hewitt and going down a break early in the second.<br /><br />But the world number three dug deep to break back and win the set on a tiebreak before pulling away to win 5-7, 7-6 (7/5), 6-2, 6-3.<br /><br />Hewitt struggled to hold serve throughout the opener and never looked like breaking Federer until he seized his chance at 5-5, pouncing on loose play from the Swiss legend to take the advantage.<br /><br />The Australian held his nerve as he served for the first set, taking the lead with two blistering cross-court forehands, then breaking Federer at the start of the second.<br />But at 3-1 down in the second set Federer finally found his range and gradually took control, taking the set in a tiebreak and then securing dual breaks in the third and fourth. <br /><br />Federer, who only arrived in Sydney on Wednesday after his US Open semi-final defeat to Novak Djokovic, admitted being tired and off his game on what he described as an "old school" grass court.<br /><br />"I all of a sudden realised this was much more difficult than I expected," he said.<br />"I thought it was going to be tough but once on court I was a bit afraid of hitting my shots because of all the bad bounces out on this grass court and I was just very happy to see that I got so much better as the match went on."<br /><br />Hewitt, who has slipped to 199 in the world after a series of injuries, will be slight favourite against Wawrinka in the reverse pairings after a disappointing display from the Swiss number two.<br /><br />Wawrinka started well against Tomic, but the young Australian relaxed after the first set, playing the kind of grass court tennis that took him to the Wimbledon quarter-finals this year.<br /><br />His mix of touch, flat shots and moments of pure power nullified anything the Swiss tried.<br />Saturday's doubles will see Hewitt and Chris Guccione taking on Federer and Wawrinka.<br />The winner of the tie progresses to the World Group in 2012 while the loser will play zonal qualifiers in a bid to get back to the top tier competition in 2013.</p>
<p>Playing on grass at the Royal Sydney Golf Club, 18-year-old Bernard Tomic gave the home side an early lead when he beat Stanislas Wawrinka 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-3.<br /><br />Federer then found himself under enormous pressure after losing the first set to a typically dogged Hewitt and going down a break early in the second.<br /><br />But the world number three dug deep to break back and win the set on a tiebreak before pulling away to win 5-7, 7-6 (7/5), 6-2, 6-3.<br /><br />Hewitt struggled to hold serve throughout the opener and never looked like breaking Federer until he seized his chance at 5-5, pouncing on loose play from the Swiss legend to take the advantage.<br /><br />The Australian held his nerve as he served for the first set, taking the lead with two blistering cross-court forehands, then breaking Federer at the start of the second.<br />But at 3-1 down in the second set Federer finally found his range and gradually took control, taking the set in a tiebreak and then securing dual breaks in the third and fourth. <br /><br />Federer, who only arrived in Sydney on Wednesday after his US Open semi-final defeat to Novak Djokovic, admitted being tired and off his game on what he described as an "old school" grass court.<br /><br />"I all of a sudden realised this was much more difficult than I expected," he said.<br />"I thought it was going to be tough but once on court I was a bit afraid of hitting my shots because of all the bad bounces out on this grass court and I was just very happy to see that I got so much better as the match went on."<br /><br />Hewitt, who has slipped to 199 in the world after a series of injuries, will be slight favourite against Wawrinka in the reverse pairings after a disappointing display from the Swiss number two.<br /><br />Wawrinka started well against Tomic, but the young Australian relaxed after the first set, playing the kind of grass court tennis that took him to the Wimbledon quarter-finals this year.<br /><br />His mix of touch, flat shots and moments of pure power nullified anything the Swiss tried.<br />Saturday's doubles will see Hewitt and Chris Guccione taking on Federer and Wawrinka.<br />The winner of the tie progresses to the World Group in 2012 while the loser will play zonal qualifiers in a bid to get back to the top tier competition in 2013.</p>