Hewitt speeds to victory in Japan Open

Top seed Lleyton Hewitt demolished Germany's Marc-Kevin Goellner 6-2 6-2 to advance to the third round of the Japan Open tennis championships on Wednesday.

The 20-year-old Australian, who climbed to number three in the world after winning the U.S. Open last month, took just 49 minutes to win his first professional match in Japan with a clinical demonstration of his all-court game at Tokyo's Ariake Colosseum.

Hewitt dropped just two points on serve in the second set as the depth and accuracy of his groundstrokes continued to force errors from the demoralised Goellner. The difference between the players was evident on the key points, with Hewitt able to summon up a big serve or a winning pass almost at will.

Hewitt, who arrived in Tokyo after helping Australia reach a third straight Davis Cup final, clinched the opening set with a wrong-footing forehand pass and completed proceedings with an acrobatic backhand volley on his first match point.

"It was a bit strange to be out there after playing in two huge events before this. But it was good to play and to get the cobwebs out," said Hewitt, who will play American Michael Russell, the 15th seed, in the next round.

Seventh seed Marcelo Rios showed glimpses of the form that took him to number one in the world in 1998 as the Chilean eased past Zimbabwe's Byron Black 6-2 7-5 on an outside court to set up a third-round match with Danai Udomchoke of Thailand, who ousted Israel's Harel Levy 7-5 6-0.

Ankle Strapped
Rios, fresh from winning the Hong Kong Open on Sunday, relied on clever variations of pace and angles to frustrate Black in a one-sided first set which took just 24 minutes.

But the 25-year-old from Santiago, who played with his left ankle heavily strapped following surgery in June, committed a string of unforced errors at the start of the second set and allowed Black to open a 3-0 lead.

Rios, currently ranked 36 in the ATP Champions Race, effortlessly levelled at 3-3 and got the critical break in the 11th game with a superb backhand pass down the line.

He then fired two more of his nine aces to wrap up the match in 61 minutes.

"The taping is just a precaution. My ankle is 100 percent, but I could still improve on my game," said Rios. "I could work on my serve and I'm missing a lot of forehands recently."

In other matches on Wednesday, defending champion Sjeng Schalken, seeded second, kicked off his title defence with a convincing 6-3 6-4 victory over Germany's Christian Vinck. The Dutchman will face Switzerland's Ivo Heiberger in the last 16.

Fourth seed Jonas Bjorkman of Sweden beat Japanese wild card Hiroki Kondo 6-4 6-3 to set up a meeting with American James Blake, who upset 14th seed Wayne Arthurs of Australia 7-6 7-5.

German ninth seed Lars Burgsmuller moved into the third round with a 3-6 6-3 7-5 win over South Korea's Lee Hyung-Taik.

In the women's draw, hometown favourite Ai Sugiyama, the number three seed, battled to a 6-2 3-6 6-1 win oover Slovenia's Katarina Srebotnik on centre court.