Safin and Hewitt out

US Open champ Safin crashes out of the Olympics

US Open champion Marat Safin of Russia was toppled in a day of upsets at the Olympic tennis tournament on Wednesday, falling in the first round to his arch-enemy Fabrice Santoro of France.

The Safin shocker was followed by the fall of fourth-seeded Australian Lleyton Hewitt in a night match that capped off a tumultuous day for the favourites.

The top-seeded Safin, who overwhelmed Pete Sampras at the Open final this month in New York, was mesmerised once again by the deceptive Frenchman, a master of disguise and change of pace, who took a 1-6 6-1 6-4 centre court victory.

The stunning triumph over the world number two marked Santoro's fifth career win without a loss against the Russian.

Great

Safin: Out in three sets

"For sure, it's a great win for me," said the 27-year-old Santoro, ranked 35th in the world.

"He won the Open two weeks ago and he is the leader in the ATP race. It is a big win."

A disappointed Safin said: "I couldn't help my country and I'm angry at myself because I can't fight for the gold medal and I can't make the number one in the world."

Hewitt, who won the Sydney International title on the same Olympic Park centre court early this year, was also undone by a player quite familiar with his game - doubles partner Max Mirnyi of Belarus.

One-sided

Mirnyi, who partnered Hewitt to the US Open doubles crown this month in New York, registered a one-sided 6-3 6-3 victory over the 19-year-old Australian.

Five other men's seeds fell on Wednesday - British hope Tim Henman (7), Franco Squillari of Argentina (10), Marcelo Rios of Chile (12), Wayne Ferreira of South Africa (14) and American Michael Chang (16).

The 20-year-old Safin drew the worst possible opponent for his opening Olympic match in Santoro, and the Russian did not help his campaign with his schedule.

He had travelled straight from the Open to Tashkent, Uzbekistan, where he won the President's Cup tournament on Sunday before making a trip of some 15 hours to Sydney.

Energy

Hewitt cannot hide his disappointment

The Russian, who arrived in Sydney at 5am on Tuesday, would not blame his defeat on fatigue. "I'm not old. I'm 20 years old," he said. "I have enough energy to play."

Safin had enough energy but not enough patience to beat the exasperating Santoro.

He looked on top against the Frenchman in the first set, overpowering him with the ferocity of his groundstrokes and Santoro struggled to find his touch as he continually sliced balls into the net.

But the tide turned in the second set as everything Santoro did clicked - and Safin grew more and more frustrated, slamming his racquet against a drinks cooler during one changeover.

Break point

Safin held serve easily in the third set until the last game and four times reached break point but never cashed in.

The women's top seed had an easy time as Australian Open winner Lindsay Davenport launched her Olympic title defence by beating Paola Suarez of Argentina 6-2 6-2 to open Wednesday's tennis programme.

Japan's Ai Sugiyama, seeded 14th, was the only women's seed to fall, losing 6-0 7-6 (7-1) to Australia's Jelena Dokic, a Wimbledon semi-finalist.