Hewitt, Philippoussis advance in San Jose

Third-seeded Lleyton Hewitt made quick work of American Paul Goldstein winning 6-4, 6-2 on Wednesday.

Third-seeded Lleyton Hewitt cruised past American Paul Goldstein 6-4, 6-2 at the SAP Open on Wednesday in an easy return from his injury at last month's Australian Open.

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Hewitt, playing his first match since injuring his left ankle in the second-round loss to Juan Ignacio Chela in Melbourne, made quick work of Goldstein, winning 23 of the final 28 points of the 58-minute match, and taking advantage of frequent errors by Goldstein.

The 2002 champion advanced to the second round with fellow Australians Mark Philippoussis and Wayne Arthurs. Former two-time champ Philippoussis gave his comeback a boost when he knocked out fourth-seeded Tommy Robredo 3-6, 7-5, 7-5.

Philippoussis won the Open in 1999 and 2000 but his injury-plagued descent from the top 10 began two years ago, and he needed a wild card entry this week with a No. 161 ranking.

Robredo marked the Australian's first win over a top-15 player in more than 18 months. He'll play Swede Robin Soderling next. Arthurs claimed his first win of the year in a tussle at the expense of Bobby Reynolds of the United States 4-6, 7-5, 7-5.

Arthurs next tackles seventh-seeded Dmitry Tursunov. The Russian came back to down Jonas Bjorkman of Sweden 4-6, 6-3, 6-2.

"It's kind of hard to judge my game right now because I don't feel 100 percent," Tursunov said. "I am lucky I got through the match."

Bjorkman, with six career titles, was yet to win a singles match this year through four events.

Vince Spadea was first through to the quarterfinals after a 6-2, 6-0 dispatch of fellow American and lucky loser Travis Rettenmaier, the replacement for five-time champ Andre Agassi, who injured his back.

Belgium's Kristof Vliegen beat Germany's Rainer Schuettler 6-1, 6-3 for the second month in a row, and Kenneth Carlsen of Denmark defeated Lukas Dlouhy of the Czech Republic 3-6, 6-2, 6-1.