Tennis-Wimbledon-Disco and friends serenade Hewitt into last 16

By Martyn Herman

LONDON, June 27 (Reuters) - Lleyton Hewitt roared into the fourth of Wimbledon for the sixth time in succession on Saturday as his yellow and green clad army of fans turned a sweltering Court Two into a small chunk of Australia.

The 2002 champion, gradually working his way back up the rankings after hip surgery last year, backed up his demolition of fifth seed Juan Martin del Potro in round two to dispatch Germany's Philipp Petzschner 7-5 7-6 6-3.

Hewitt, once described by Pete Sampras as having the "best wheels in tennis", hit the corners with his raking groundstrokes and served superbly throughout, offering the 25-year-old Petzschner scant opportunity to break.

In this form Australia's sole representative in the men's singles main draw looks capable of keeping the Fanatics, the name of his backing singers, in full voice for a little longer.

Conducted by a character known as Disco, they ran through their full repertoire of chants including a variation of Frankie Valli's classic which begins "You're just too good to be true".

The Fanatics are lucky to have such a feisty hustler as Hewitt to give them something to cheer, having watched compatriot Samantha Stosur go out on the same court earlier.

Hewitt clearly thrived on the atmosphere, pumping his fists and bellowing "C'mon!!" after vital points such as when he broke Petzschner in the 12th game of the first set to move ahead.