They’re a pair of unlikely brooms, but Benjamin Becker and Coco Vandeweghe swept away the last vestiges of Australian tennis’ old guard on Thursday night when they defeated Lleyton Hewitt and Sam Stosur.  

Hewitt shot out to a two-set lead against Becker, but was pegged back and lost in five, while Vandeweghe was too strong for Stosur, winning in straight sets.

Hewitt and Stosur are polar opposites. He has a steely resolve and ice in his veins. His fighting spirit is legendary, but he lacked the physical equipment to hang with Federer, Djokovic and Murray once they moved past him.

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Stosur has all the physical gifts, but – save for a glorious fortnight in New York and an almost-as-glorious one in Paris – she consistently unravels in the early rounds of grand slams.

Fuse them together and they’d be unstoppable. But at Rod Laver Arena on Thursday, both Hewitt and Stosur fell victim to their Achilles heels – body and mind respectively – and tumbled out of the Australian Open.

Hewitt’s been on a quest to turn back the clock for a few years now, and against Becker he did it.

He looked like a 20-year-old again – the return, the speed, the maniacal defence that meant no ball was ever lost.

If you tried hard, you might have thought you were watching the 2001 US Open final, where he made Pete Sampras look like a club player with a hangover.

It lasted for precisely two sets.

After that, largely, Hewitt looked sweaty, frustrated and old.

Lleyton Hewitt gives the fans a quick wave before departing Rod Laver Arena. Photo: Getty

If the match was a prize fight, Becker’s corner could have been forgiven for throwing in the towel halfway through the second set, so insipid was their man’s performance.

Hewitt’s early dominance was built on his strengths of yesteryear: never-say-die defence, a brilliant return, and that will.

His competitive drive will never leave. You can imagine him organising Zimmer frame races at the retirement village, and letting out a massive ‘come on’ when he laps Mavis and Beryl.

He won the first set 6-2 in half an hour, Becker undone by his 16 unforced errors.

The Australian broke in the second game of the second set, showing incredible court coverage to chase down what looked like a Becker winner on break point, then jagging the game thanks to a lucky net cord.

He held up his racquet in apology, then stuck his tongue out. At that point, he was invincible.

The most fight we saw from Becker was when he threw his racquet to the ground in disgust after a hopelessly mis-hit backhand – one of 33 unforced errors in the opening two sets.

Becker took some time off court, vented his rage, and emerged from the bowels of Rod Laver Arena a new man.

He made some inroads into the Hewitt serve and finally broke it in the sixth game before going on to take the set.

When he broke Hewitt again in the opening game of the fourth – thanks to a tight double fault – the crowd fell to a deathly hush.

Becker was starting to get his serve ticking, hitting winners, pulverising returns. Hewitt was starting to scream into the Melbourne night.

At 4-0 Becker was in cruise control – but he looked in his rear view and saw a little Hewitt-shaped Datsun running all over the court trying to stay in it.

Becker eventually held his nerve to take the fourth set 6-4.

Hewitt feels about as comfortable in fifth sets as the rest of us do in bed on a Sunday morning, but not on this night.

Groundhog Day: Sam Stosur. Photo: Getty

Two breaks from Becker, and that was all she wrote, the world No.41 winning 2-6 1-6 6-3 6-4 6-2 in just over three hours.

Next up for Becker will be eighth seed Milos Raonic, who defeated American Donald Young in straight sets.

If it was to be Hewitt’s last outing at the Australian Open, he wasn’t giving any clues. He gave the crowd a wave, didn’t linger to soak up the applause, and high-tailed it out of there.

Only he can know when enough will be enough.

After watching Hewitt and his thirst for the contest, it can sometimes be disconcerting to watch Sam Stosur.

The 30-year-old can look as though she’d rather be anywhere but on centre court at a grand slam.

So it was for large parts of her clash with American Coco Vandeweghe.

When the break came in the first set it did – almost predictably – via a Stosur double fault.

The 23-year-old American consistently handled the pressure points better than her more experienced opponent.

Stosur fought desperately as the match went on, but Vandeweghe was too cool when it counted.

A 191 km per hour ace – her 11th of the night – brought up match point and she iced it with a brilliant forehand winner.

Earlier on Thursday, Casey Dellacqua‘s tournament ended when she fell victim to American Madison Keys 2-6 6-1 6-1.

Much has been made of the next generation, Nick Kyrgios and Bernard Tomic in particular.

It’s all down to them now.