Lleyton Hewitt to marry soap star

SYDNEY - Lleyton Hewitt proposed to soap star girlfriend Bec Cartwright after losing the Australian Open men's tennis final last night against Russian Marat Safin.

The couple got engaged soon after the match ended at Melbourne Park, the Seven network reported today.

"The big news down here is the engagement of Lleyton Hewitt and Bec Cartwright just after the match last night," the channel said.

Hewitt apparently got down on bended knee in a quiet corner before heading into a private party celebrating the end of the competition.

The station reported that Cartwright, an actor on the Australian soap Home and Away, had had no advance warning but Hewitt was prepared with a "big diamond''.

The 23-year-old tennis player had apparently hoped to propose after winning the match, but instead lost against the fourth-seeded Russian 1-6 6-3 6-4 6-4.

He and Cartwright had their first public outing as a couple in early December and she has sat courtside throughout his Australian Open matches.

The announcement comes after Hewitt separated from his former fiance, Belgian tennis star Kim Clijsters, late last year following a four-year romance.

- AAP