LOS ANGELES, 31 July 2003 — Top seed Lleyton Hewitt opened his US hardcourt season with a 6-0 7-5 victory over American Cecil Mamiit in the first round of the Mercedes-Benz Cup on Tuesday.

But former US Open champion Marat Safin’s comeback from injury was short-lived as he was forced to retire against India’s Prakash Amritraj midway through the first set. Hewitt looked sharp in his first singles appearance since his shock first-round loss to Croatian qualifier Ivo Karlovic when he was attempting to defend his Wimbledon crown last month.

The Australian, who slumped to five in the world after his All England Club humiliation, stunned a hapless Mamiit in the first set with his fierce groundstrokes.

Sixth-seeded Safin, who has been out of action since April with a left wrist injury, was clearly in discomfort from the start of his match against Amritraj and finally threw in the towel when trailing 5-3.

Fifth seed Mark Philippoussis defeated fellow Australian Adam Kennedy 6-3, 6-2 in his first singles match since losing the Wimbledon final to Roger Federer.

But second seed Sebastien Grosjean and triple French Open winner Gustavo Kuerten were both given stern tests before they managed to book their places in the second round.

Grosjean battled past Belgian Xavier Malisse 4-6, 7-5, 6-3 while fourth seed Gustavo Kuerten escaped with a 3-6, 7-6, 6-4 win over Canada’s Frederic Niemeyer.

Denis Golovanov completed a bad day for the Safin camp.

The Russian qualifier, who also coaches Safin, was overwhelmed by third-seeded Dutchman Sjeng Schalken 6-4, 6-4.

Seventh seed Wayne Ferreira of South Africa stopped American qualifier Robert Yim 6-4, 6-4, while wildcard Joyce ousted fellow American Jan-Michael Gambill 7-6, 2-6, 7-6 in a gruelling match that was suspended from Monday night due to rain.

Agassi Storms Into Third Round in Washington

In Washington, world number one Andre Agassi strolled into the third round of the $600,000 Washington Classic with a 6-2, 6-2 victory over Switzerland’s Ivo Heuberger on Tuesday.

Agassi, playing his first match since his fourth-round exit at Wimbledon last month, needed only one hour to dispatch Heuberger, 27, who is ranked 123rd in the world.

In other second-round matches, sixth seed James Blake of the US put out Frenchman Gregory Carraz 7-6, 6-4 while number seven Max Mirnyi of Belarus shrugged off an early fright to dispose of American Alex Kim 4-6, 6-3, 6-4.

Ninth seed Arnaud Clement of France suffered a shock 3-6, 7-5, 6-1 defeat at the hands of Germany’s Lars Burgsmuller. But 11th seed Mardy Fish of the US beat Australia’s Scott Draper 6-2, 7-5 and No. 14 Greg Rusedski of Britain defeated Peru’s Ivan Miranda 6-2, 6-4.

Henin-Hardenne Sparkles at Acura Classic

In Carlsbad, California, third seed Justine Henin-Hardenne showed the form that won her the 2003 French Open title when she destroyed Greece’s Eleni Daniilidou 6-1, 6-1 in the second round of the $1 million Acura Classic on Tuesday.

Fourth seed Lindsay Davenport, who has been troubled by a foot injury, trounced fellow American Amy Frazier 6-3, 6-1.

Sixth seed Chanda Rubin of the US scored a 7-5, 6-0 win over Slovenia’s Tina Pisnik to set up a third-round match against ninth seed Jelena Dokic of Yugoslavia, who toppled Spain’s Magui Serna 2-6, 6-2, 6-3.

The fourth seed, who won the title here in 1998, dictated against Frazier, an opponent she has beaten in all nine of their matches.