Three Aussies through in San Jose

With all three Aussies facing different challenges in their careers, Lleyton Hewitt, Mark Philippoussis and Wayne Arthurs have advanced to the second round of the SAP Open in San Jose.

Making a successful return from an ankle injury sustained during his unexpected second round Australian Open loss, No.3 seed Lleyton Hewitt comfortably disposed of American Paul Goldstein 6-4 6-2.

After falling behind 2-0 in the second set, Hewitt managed to win the next six games to put himself through to the second round in just 58 minutes.

Australian wildcard Philippoussis, who has struggled with injury since 2004, also won through to the second round with a surprising come-from-behind win.

The 161st-ranked Aussie produced the upset of the day when he beat Spanish No.4 seed Tommy Robredo in the longest match of the tournament.

Despite the contest being tainted by errors, Philippoussis was able to serve his way out of trouble when needed most, coming from a set down to score a 3-6 7-5 7-5 victory over his opponent in 2 hours 19 minutes.

The win over his 14th-ranked opponent marked his biggest win since his five-set triumph over then world No.3 Juan Carlos Ferrero in the 2003 Davis Cup final in Melbourne.

Completing the trio of Aussie hopefuls who advanced past the first round at San Jose was Davis Cup representative and Tour veteran Wayne Arthurs.

Arthurs, 34, shrugged off a calf injury that has hampered him since the Hopman Cup at the beginning of the year to fire down 27 aces in a hard fought 4-6 7-5 7-5 win over American qualifier Bobby Reynolds.

In the last match of the day, Arthurs was unable to continue his winning form with 2005 Wimbledon champion Stephen Huss as his partner, as the Aussie duo was defeated by famous returning 47-year-old John McEnroe and Swedish doubles specialist Jonas Bjorkman 6-3 6-3 in the opening round of the doubles discipline.

Arthurs, Hewitt and Philippoussis are all scheduled to play their second round singles matches on Friday (Australian time).

On the WTA Tour, the lone Australian competing this week, Nicole Pratt, went down 6-0 6-1 to American Vania King in the second round of the debut event in Bangalore after upsetting seventh-seeded Russian Elena Vesnina in the opening round.

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