TORONTO (AP) -- Lleyton Hewitt, the world's No. 1 tennis player, lost to Felix Mantilla in the first round of the $2.95 million Tennis Masters Canada tournament Monday night.

Mantilla, 27 of Spain, who has struggled this year to remain ranked in the top-50, pulled off the 2-6, 6-4, 6-3 upset.

``I am surprised because in the last month I wasn't playing so well,'' Mantilla said. ``This is a special win for me -- maybe the best win of my career.''

Rain delayed the match for 2 hours, 7 minutes with Mantilla leading 5-4 in the second set.

About one-third of the spectators who packed the 10,000-seat York University facility waited out the rain and backed Mantilla.

``People were cheering for me and I'm not used to that,'' he said. ``They helped me keep fighting.''

The players went to deuce five times before Hewitt won the first game of the third set, but Mantilla rallied to grab a 3-1 lead. Hewitt got even at 3-3, but Mantilla dropped in beautiful returns on extended volleys that had Hewitt cursing himself.

With Mantilla up 5-3, and the players at deuce in the ninth game, Hewitt -- who won the first set in only 32 minutes -- dropped a shot wide. He lost that game and the following one to end the match.

``He played extremely well,'' Hewitt said. ``He played the better tennis, and the humid conditions really helped him. ``I volleyed well. He just stood back and ran down everything. Come the U.S. Open, I've got to be able to play the big points better.''

The only other time Mantilla beat a No. 1-ranked player was in 1999 when he defeated Pete Sampras at Indian Wells in California.

Hewitt, the Wimbledon champion last month, fell to 39-8 this season.

World No. 1 Hewitt Leads Charge for Tennis Masters Toronto Title

Lleyton Hewitt of Australia looks to capture his second Tennis Masters crown.

The ATP Champions Race 2002 arrives at its first Tennis Masters Series stop in the North American summer hard court season, as the chasing pack hope to gain ground on current runaway leader Lleyton Hewitt.

The reigning US Open and Wimbledon champion has a 127-point lead over Marat Safin in second place, and despite suffering from a viral infection that forced him to withdraw from the Mercedes-Benz Cup in Los Angeles last week, the 21-year-old Australian says he will be ready to go in Toronto. "I feel like I'm better now," said Hewitt, who took more than two weeks off after his victory at SW19. "I feel fresh at the moment. Hopefully come Monday or Tuesday when I have to play, I'll be 100 percent and be able to put everything on the line again."

Hewitt, who has never progressed beyond the second round in Canada, opens his campaign against Spain's Felix Mantilla in a first-time meeting. "I'm looking forward to getting back [to Toronto]," said Hewitt, who has won his last 14 matches going back to his fourth round loss at Roland Garros. "It should suit my game."

Among those standing in Hewitt's immediate path to a second Tennis Masters Series title (2002 Indian Wells) could be Magnus Norman, a potential second round opponent, while Wimbledon semifinalist Xavier Malisse and No. 14 seed Jiri Novak - who meet in the first round - could be lurking in the third.

Former finalist Richard Krajicek, who showed he can still be a major threat by reaching the quarterfinals at Wimbledon despite missing 20 months through injury, also lies in Hewitt's quarter of the draw. The Dutchman, who lost to Patrick Rafter in the final in Toronto in 1998, takes on Jarkko Nieminen in the first round with a possible clash against No.11 seed Sebastien Grosjean in the second and Roland Garros champion Albert Costa in the third.

Seeded to meet Hewitt in the semifinals is No. 4 Tim Henman, who has lost to the Australian all six times they have played, including the finals of the Pacific Life Open in Indian Wells and Queen's this year, as well as the Wimbledon semifinal. Henman, a semifinalist in Toronto in 1998 (l. to Rafter), faces Fernando Vicente in the first round and takes a 2-1 winning record against the Spaniard into the encounter with him.

Eighth seed Juan Carlos Ferrero - a finalist last week in Kitzbühel last week - faces Thomas Enqvist in his first hard court match since the Nasdaq-100 Open in Miami, while No. 12 seed Andy Roddick, a quarterfinalist in Montreal last year (l. to Pavel), takes on Dominik Hrbaty.

Following Andre Agassi's withdrawal from the bottom half of the draw due to a lower back/right hip injury, the way could open up for Pete Sampras, who is looking for his first title in Canada and his first anywhere since Wimbledon 2000. Sampras faces 1996 champion Wayne Ferreira in the first round in what will be the 13th meeting between the two. With the series tied at 6-6 (4-4 on hard courts), Ferreira won their last encounter in Scottsdale earlier this year.

Meanwhile, in what is arguably the toughest section of the draw, second seed Marat Safin - the 2000 Toronto champion - begins his quest for a third Tennis Masters Series shield against Juan Ignacio Chela, a first-time ATP winner in Amersfoort two weeks ago.

Should Safin survive that challenge, he will face the winner of the match between defending champion Andrei Pavel and former finalist Gustavo Kuerten, a five-time Tennis Masters Series champion. And with the in-form Carlos Moya, Tennis Masters Hamburg champion Roger Federer, former finalist Yevgeny Kafelnikov and Younes El Aynaoui all in the bottom quarter, expect some fireworks over the coming week.

Hewitt returns against Spaniard
29jul02

AFP

TORONTO: Wimbledon champion Lleyton Hewitt faces Spaniard Felix Mantilla in a low-stress return as top seed at the $2.95 million Masters Series here.
The world No.1, who has been fighting an infection since claiming his Wimbledon title three weeks ago, has only been back in training for a few days.

Hewitt, with four titles this season and heading into the defence of the first Grand Slam of his career at next month's US Open, needs to kick-start his game on the hardcourts where he shines.

The 21-year-old pulled out of this week's Los Angeles event but the fighting Aussie will surely have a renewed hunger for the game after his enforced absence.

"I wasn't able to eat an awful lot. Fruit, sort of milk and water was basically my diet for a few days there," Hewitt said of the bug which seems to plague him regularly but which doctors cannot quite figure out.

"I couldn't have any sort of heavy foods and that was tough. But now I'm back on track again. I feel like I'm fighting fit at the moment and hopefully I'm able to continue that through this whole American summer now."

Hewitt, who leads both the Champions Race and the entry system on the ATP, will be trailed by second seed and former champion Marat Safin, who won two years ago, the last time the event was held here.

Safin opens against Argentine Juan Chela. In his championship run at the National Tennis Centre in 2000, Safin won his first Masters trophy, then took the US Open title over Pete Sampras and finished the year with seven titles.

The Russian has a reputation as a wild man on the court, with the trashing of rackets in anger one of his specialities.

Safin says it's all a motivation tool – upon which he is trying to lessen his reliance.

"I have to push myself sometimes when I'm losing. I have to break racquet, whatever, just throw the ball out of the court. At the end it helps me."

Third seed Tommy Haas and number four Tim Henman couldn't be more different, with Britain's 'Gentleman Tim' beginning his tournament against Spaniard Fernando Vicente and Germany's Haas opening with Canadian Frederic Neimeyer.

Canadian free entry Daniel Nestor, a king in doubles with this year's Australian Open title and finals in Paris and Wimbledon, is facing Andre Agassi.

American Pete Sampras, who has not played since a second-round embarrassment at Wimbledon, is down as 13th seed and takes on dangerous South African Wayne Ferreira in the opening round.

Sebastien Grosjean, the lone French seed at No.11, starts with Czech Bohdan Ulihrach while Fabrice Santoro plays Frank Dancevic, the host nation's top junior.

07/28/02

Lleyton Hewitt Thrills Fans

They screamed. They cheered. Lleyton Hewitt, the world's No. 1 player, was greeted like a rock star at Lever 2000 Day when he appeared Sunday for a question and answer session at the 2002 Tennis Masters Canada.

The fiery Australian and Wimbledon champ spent 15-minutes on the Main Stage, signing autographs while he answered fans' questions.

Clearly, Hewitt is as articulate off court as he is magical on it. Here's what he said: Asked whether he ever considered changing careers, he answered: "No, things are going alright at the moment. It was my dream to get to No. 1 in the world at the age of 21. " What was his first reaction after winning Wimbledon? "It was relief it was over. Two weeks is a long time with seven best-of-five matches."

What is his favorite city or tennis stadium? "Adelaide, my hometown. I haven't been home since February and it's nice to be able to sleep in your own bed and put your feet up. As for the stadium. Wimbledon Centre Court is a nice play to play with great atmosphere and a lot of tradition."

On whether it's hard to keep his relationship going with women's tennis star Kim Clijsters because they both travel so much, he responded: "Yeah, it's tough. But we try to play as many tournaments as we can together. And then we have weeks off. In one way it's easy because we both know the pressure of being in the top five in the world at such a young age."

How does he feel about so much travel? "You get sick of it," he said. "But getting better at tennis is one of the things that drives you on." Finally he was asked, what style of player does he like to play. "It doesn't matter really. I like to play guys with a big serve who attack me and those who stand back and rally. I find it easy to adjust to all surfaces."

Australian team enters Master Series Canada

(Jul 24) TORONTO (CP) - Lleyton Hewitt, ranked No. 1 in the world in singles, and fellow-Australian Todd Woodbridge, former No. 1 doubles player, have entered the Tennis Masters Canada tournament scheduled to start Saturday as a doubles team.

It would be a rare doubles appearance for Hewitt, who has competed in doubles in just five tournaments this year. He has won two doubles titles in his career, including the 2000 U.S. Open with Max Mirnyi.

"It is not often that I get to play doubles on tour, and I couldn't think of a better partner than Todd," Hewitt said in a release Wednesday from Tennis Canada. "I am feeling a bit better than a week ago and have started to train again for Canada; hopefully with better results than last year."

Woodbridge, a 14-year ATP pro, has won 74 career doubles titles, including 13 Grand Slam doubles titles. His most notable partnership came with compatriot Mark Woodforde as the pair won 61 titles in 80 finals.

Woodbridge currently partners with Jonas Bjorkman of Sweden