Lleyton Hewitt

Melbourne: Andy Roddick has freshness on his side as he attempts to redress a big-match imbalance against Lleyton Hewitt in Friday?s semi-final showdown between the world No. 2 and 3 at the Australian Open.

The American second seed has had almost half the on-court workload than the never-say-die Australian in the five matches to the semi-final, but even that might not be enough to fend off Hewitt before his home fans.

Roddick has spent a total of seven hours and 42 minutes on court in coasting through to the last four, dropping only one set along the way.

By comparison, Hewitt, bidding to become the first home winner of the national open in almost three decades, has been drawn into five-set dogfights in his last two matches for a total of 14 hours and 38 minutes court time, raising doubts about what he has left in the tank.

Throw in a persistent hip injury and his ability to recover from two draining matches against Spanish prodigy Rafael Nadal and Argentine ninth seed David Nalbandian and yet again Hewitt is up against it to fight off Roddick.

Hewitt?s battling performances have been one of the highlights of this year?s Open.

The feisty 23-year-old has fought back from the brink to wear down Nadal and Nalbandian in the fifth set, roared on Davis Cup-style by his home crowd.

Then there is Hewitt?s 4-1 record over 22-year-old Roddick, featuring victories at the French Open, US Open and last year?s Masters Cup.

Roddick finds Hewitt a difficult opponent to beat and even allowing for the fatigue factor, the Australian battler will scrap for every point as he continues with his dream of becoming the first home winner of his national open since Mark Edmondson in 1976.

?He?s got an advantage, he?s in bed already tonight. Yeah, he?s got an advantage in that point. But come Friday I?ll be ready to go,? Hewitt vowed after his midnight finish against Nalbandian. (AFP)