Hewitt advances in Rome as Italian wildcards win

World number one Lleyton Hewitt's consistency and aggression was too much for Jonas Bjorkman as the Australian thrashed the veteran Swede 6-2, 6-3 in the first round of the Rome Masters series event on Monday.

"Jonas is a different type of player than a lot of the clay courters you see out there and that makes it a bit tricky, so I'm pleased to get through." admitted Hewitt.

Hewitt now faces former French Open champion Carlos Moya, who knocked him out of the Monte Carlo Masters series event a fortnight ago, in the second round.

"We've played four times and we've had tough matches every time," said Hewitt. "Hopefully I can learn from those."

In other matches two Italian wildcards Giorgio Galimberti and Stefano Galvani, caused the biggest upsets on day one at the Foro Italico.

Galimberti, the world 169, scored a shock 6-2, 2-6, 6-3 win over two-time French Open finalist and 16th seed Alex Corretja, while Stefano Galvani knocked out Britain's Greg Rusedski, winning 4-6, 7-6(7-1), 6-2.

The 24-year-old Galvani, who also defeated Russia's Yevgeny Kafelnikov in the second round at Barcelona last month, bounced back from losing a tight first set and was a break up in the second before his nerves allowed Rusedski to force a tiebreak.

But Rusedski offered little resistance in the tiebreak and lost his serve at the start of the third set to seal his fate.

"I never really felt I got my rhythm, for the whole match, from the first ball to the last ball," said Rusedski, who had problems with his serve. "On paper it was a great draw but I just didn't take advantage.

"I thought that was probably one of the worst matches I've ever played."

Rusedski also hinted that while he was almost certain to compete at the French Open in three weeks, his disappointment at losing to Galvani meant he may rethink whether he plays in Hamburg next week.

"I haven't made any decisions yet but after today's performance I'm very disappointed. I still have to sit down and figure out what I'm going to do with my clay court season."

AGASSI WINS

Meanwhile Andre Agassi kept his French Open preparations on course by beating Nicolas Kiefer 6-3, 6-2.

Agassi, playing his first match since losing to Pete Sampras in the Houston semifinals last month, never allowed the dangerous German to trouble him and will play Switzerland's Michel Kratochvil in round two.

Andy Roddick joined Agassi in the second round with an efficient 6-2, 6-3 win over qualifier Alex Calatrava while Australia's Mark Philippoussis downed Vincent Spadea 6-2, 6-2.

Russia's Marat Safin and France's Sebastien Grosjean also made strong starts with decisive victories.

Safin, who is seeded sixth, demolished Alberto Martin 6-2, 6-2 while Grosjean, seeded 10th, wasted little time in disposing of Morocco's Hicham Arazi.

SAFIN CONFIDENT

Safin, who now meets Belgium's Xavier Malisse in the second round said he was feeling confident and had set his sights on a good run during the European clay court season.

"I think in Rome or Hamburg I have to do something special to be prepared but I think I have a good chance there. I think I can play with all the top guys," said the Russian.

"I'm still number six in the world and I'm going up and up. I'm full of confidence and I'm going to be very dangerous on clay, very dangerous."

Safin said he had been working hard to get in shape for the gruelling demands of clay court tennis.

"For clay you have to be in very good shape. Now we have Rome, Hamburg, the French Open and you need to be very well prepared. I have to be serious. By the end of the year I want to be No.1 in the world."