MONTREAL: Former No 1 Lleyton Hewitt of Australia was upset in the second round of the Canada Masters, losing 7-5, 6-7 (4/7), 7-5 to Max Mirnyi Belarus on Wednesday.

Hewitt has lost four of his last nine matches, including a first-round exit as the defending champion at Wimbledon. His ranking has dropped to No 5 in the world.

Those reaching the third round included Americans Andre Agassi and Andy Roddick, Wimbledon champion Roger Federer of Switzerland and French Open winner Juan Carlos Ferrero of Spain.

Andre Agassi waited through a 1 1/2-hour rain delay, then made quick work of Russia's Nikolay Davydenko 7-6 (7/3), 6-2 on Wednesday to reach the third round of the Canada Masters.

The top-seeded Agassi is trying for his fourth title at this hard-court tuneup for the US Open, which starts on August 25.

His next opponent will be Simon Larose of Canada, who beat Argentina's Jose Acususo 7-6 (5), 1-6, 7-5.

"This is something I dreamed about when I was 12 or 13, and I watched him play when he had long hair," Larose said, referring to Agassi. "I remember saying: 'One day, I'll play against him.' Now, that day is here."

Larose, who's ranked 314th, upset three-time French Open champion Gustavo Kuerten of Brazil in the first round.

"You enjoy the competition and the challenge of it," said the oldest No 1-ranked player in ATP Tour history. "I've played a lot of Davis Cup matches where the crowd has been very receptive and others where it hasn't been."

In other action, Roddick topped Argentina's Juan Ignacio Chela 7-6 (6), 6-2, Federer beat Britain's Greg Rusedski 6-4, 6-3, Ferrero defeated Morocco's Younes el Aynaoui 6-3, 6-4 and 2002 Wimbledon runner-up David Nalbandian of Argentina ousted Britain's Tim Henman 6-4, 6-4.

Another step

In Carson, California, Belgium's Kim Clijsters moved closer to replacing Serena Williams at No 1, beating Emilie Loit 6-1, 6-1 in 50 minutes on Wednesday in the second round of the JPMorgan Chase Open.

Clijsters is on the verge of overtaking the injured Williams as the world's top-ranked player. Williams had knee surgery on Friday and will be out for up to two months, meaning she won't be able to defend her US Open title.

Clijsters could gain the top spot for the first time in her career if she wins the tournament, beating certain players along the way. But she says being No 2 is satisfying, too.

"I don't think ahead or plan ahead," she said. "I'm already happy with how far I got. When you're so close, it's always very motivating to keep doing well. It's never been a goal of mine. I'm not going to think differently now because I'm so close to No 1."

Clijsters already has experienced one aspect of being near the top - gossip about her relationship with former men's No 1 Lleyton Hewitt of Australia. One of the incorrect stories she saw suggested the couple had vacationed on an island near Slovenia.

"They've said I've been married already or Lleyton and I are engaged," she said, smiling. "I have no idea where they get all these things. It's amazing."

Four seeded players were eliminated on Wednesday.

No 5 Jelena Dokic of Yugoslavia lost to Russia's Svetlana Kuznetsova 4-6, 7-6 (5), 6-3; ninth-seeded Russian Elena Dementieva was beaten by Spain's Virginia Ruano Pascual 6-3, 5-7, 7-5; No 12 Eleni Daniilidou of Greece lost to Nicole Pratt of Australia 6-2, 6-7 (5), 6-3; and No 15 Alexandra Stevenson of the United States quit with a strained right shoulder while trailing Viktoriya Kutuzova of Russia 6-3, 3-3.

Agencies via Xinhua

(China Daily 08/08/2003 page8)