Top-ranked Hewitt bows

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) -- Lleyton Hewitt joined the exodus of marquee names at the Australian Open, becoming the first top-seeded player to lose in the first round of a Grand Slam tournament since 1990.

Hewitt, the first Aussie since 1976 to hold the No. 1 seeding at the Australian Open, lost to Spain's Alberto Martin 1-6, 6-1, 6-4, 7-6 (4) on Tuesday.

Defending champion Jennifer Capriati and Pete Sampras advanced in straight sets, but the startling ouster of the game's top-ranked man follows the defeat of second-seeded Gustavo Kuerten and withdrawal of third-seeded Andre Agassi.

The Australian Open is the first Grand Slam event to enter the second round without any of the top three seeded men.

Agassi, the two-time defending champion, withdrew before a ball was hit, citing a wrist injury from an exhibition match Saturday against Sampras. Kuerten lost in five sets Monday.

Stefan Edberg was seeded first at the 1990 U.S. Open when he lost his opener to Alexander Volkov. No top-seeded player had been eliminated in the first round of an Australian Open in the Open era.

Capriati began her title defense with a 6-4, 6-1 win over Croatia's Silvija Talaja. No. 4 Kim Clijsters swept Christina Wheeler 6-2, 6-1, and No. 6 Justine Henin beat Anna Kournikova 6-2, 7-5.

Venus Williams, seeded second, and Martina Hingis, seeded third, advanced Monday, although No. 5 Serena Williams withdrew because of an ankle injury before her opener.

Capriati won her first Grand Slam title last year in Melbourne and then added the French Open crown. She gained the top seeding Monday after Lindsay Davenport withdrew to have knee surgery.

"I like the feeling and I want to try to keep it for a while, and set a new goal for myself and a new challenge and take myself to a new level in my career," Capriati said.

Against Talaja, she converted two breaks in the first set. Then, after breaking to lead 2-1 in the second set, she won all remaining games.

Martin's upset followed Capriati's match on center court.

Hewitt, the U.S. Open champion, was sidelined with chicken pox since this month's Hopman Cup and had one low-key exhibition match.

"If I was covered in spots and still couldn't go near anyone, then I wouldn't have played, but I was pretty much going to walk out on court no matter how bad I was feeling," Hewitt said.

"I was struggling out there -- I knew I was in trouble right from the start," he added. But, "it's a Grand Slam, one of the biggest tournaments of the year -- I was going to give it a shot."

He looked as if he might turn the match around when he broke for 2-1 and then 3-2 in the fourth set. But Martin broke back twice and evened it at 4-4. The Aussie led 3-0 in the tiebreaker, but fell behind 5-4 when Martin sent him back with a lob and then put away an overhead.

Hewitt twice during the fourth set asked the trainer to tend to blisters on his feet and to massage his hamstrings. He waited nervously in the tiebreaker when Martin, leading 5-4, got courtside treatment for cramped upper legs.

Serving to stay alive, Hewitt hit a backhand out to give 41st-ranked Martin two match points and then dumped a forehand into the net.

Hewitt, who won the Masters Cup last November to finish at No. 1, said Martin's timeout was unfair, coming at a crucial time.

Martin, who had just one win in four previous trips to the Australian Open, insisted he didn't break any rules.

"I beat good players, but never beat the No. 1 in his home," Martin said. "I knew that I can beat anyone. The next step is to be every day at a good level."

Sampras opened with a 6-3, 6-3, 6-4 win over Jarkko Nieminen of Finland. Sampras let four match points slip on Nieminen's serve at 3-5 but set up another in the next game with his 13th ace and finished with a service winner.

"That's what I was needing," he said. "My game was there. I served well, I was putting pressure on his serve."

Sampras said the absence of Agassi and Kuerten helps his bid for a 14th Grand Slam title and his first since Wimbledon 2000.

"I'm one of the favorites," he said. "When I get my game going, I'm tough to beat."

And he said that before Hewitt's loss. He had rated the young Aussie a tough favorite and then said: "I'm in that league."

The loss of the top three men leaves No. 4 Yevgeny Kafelnikov the top player in the draw and also gives No. 8 Sampras, No. 9 Marat Safin and No. 13 Andy Roddick a better shot.

Safin had a 7-5, 6-4, 6-2 win over Anthony Dupuis of France, while Roddick unleashed a string of booming serves and powerful forehands on Mariano Zabaleta of Argentina to win the last first-round match 6-3, 5-7, 6-3, 6-3.

No. 7 Tommy Haas ousted Andrei Stoliarov 6-1, 6-3, 6-1 and No. 19 Jan-Michael Gambill lost for the fifth consecutive year in the Australian Open's first round.

Wayne Ferreira, ranked 63rd and playing his 45th consecutive Grand Slam event, beat Gambill 6-2, 6-4, 7-6 (6).

No. 11 Roger Federer downed Michael Chang 6-4, 6-4, 6-3 and Byron Black rallied for a 4-6, 4-6, 6-3, 6-3, 7-5 victory over Irakli Labadze, who replaced Agassi in the draw.

Other first-round winners were Todd Martin, Carlos Moya, Marcelo Rios and Mardy Fish, a 20-year-old American who knocked out No. 20 Fabrice Santoro 6-2, 1-6, 6-4, 6-1.

Among the women, No. 7 Amelie Mauresmo beat a qualifier, and Lina Krasnoroutskaya, who gained a place in the seedings after Serena Williams pulled out with a turned ankle, sprained her left ankle and withdrew while trailing 3-6, 6-3, 2-0 to Conchita Martinez.