Lleyton Hewitt is convinced he can still dominate any player on the tour when his game is sharp.

　　The australian's challenge is to get back that edge in only two weeks.

　　Hewitt hit another low point on Tuesday, losing a first-round match at the Cincinnati Masters. He imploded in the third set and fell 3-6, 6-4, 6-2 to Belgian Xavier Malisse, who hadn't beaten a Top 10 player all year.

　　Up next is the US Open, which starts on August 25 and provides another chance for a turnaround.

　　"Grand Slams are different," the former No 1 player said. "If you can get through a few matches, the draw opens up and you get confident. You just need a little bit of luck early, you get through those opening matches and you never know what could happen."

　　Hewitt's upset highlighted a topsy-turvy first round at the US.45 million tournament. Top-ranked Andre Agassi pulled out before it began, choosing to concentrate on the Open.

　　Defending champion Carlos Moya lost on the first day, along with sentimental favorite Michael Chang. Four more seeded players lost first-round matches on Tuesday, and Wimbledon champion Roger Federer of Switzerland had to pull off a remarkable comeback to avoid joining them.

　　Federer saved seven match points in a 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (10) victory over Scott Draper, an Australian qualifier.

　　"You hope that he's not going to close out the match and just hope you're going to get another chance," said Federer, who had never saved so many match points. "But normally, it should be over."

　　Also advancing were second-seeded Juan Carlos Ferrero of Spain, No 7 Andy Roddick and No 8 Rainer Schuettler of Germany. Among the losers were No 9 Paradorn Srichaphan of Thailand, No 10 Sebastien Grosjean of France and No. 14 Gustavo Kuerten of Brazil.

　　Roddick, who won his first Masters Series title in Montreal on Sunday, beat qualifier Fernando Verdasco of Spain 6-3, 6-2. He is 25-2 since he lost in the first round at the French Open and hired Brad Gilbert as his coach.

　　Gilbert previously helped to turn Agassi into a consistent winner.

　　"Andre was in kind of the same position I am right now when they got together," said Roddick. "People were saying, 'Well, is he just going to go by the wayside, or is he going to step it up and become a great player?"'

　　Hewitt's loss underscored how he has slipped since last year, when he became only the fourth player ranked No 1 every week of a calendar year. This year, he became only the second defending Wimbledon champion to lose in the opening round.

　　"I know that when my game's at its best and I'm feeling physically 100 percent, then I can beat up on anyone out there on any given day," Hewitt said.

　　Malisse played with more energy after he broke Hewitt's serve to take control of the second set.

　　"I held my serve and started to feel a lot better," he said. "At 4-2, I just started to believe that I could get to the third set and anything can happen."

　　Hewitt was in trouble after losing serve to open the final set. He angrily smacked a backhand into the net in the third set, when Malisse broke him again for a 3-0 lead.

　　Malisse, a Wimbledon semifinalist last year, sensed a difference in Hewitt after he got behind.

　　"He made a lot more mistakes than he usually does," Malisse said. "If you lose a couple of matches, your confidence goes down a little bit. Everybody does that."

　　Unlike hewitt, Federer managed to regroup and make tough shots as he repeatedly faced elimination. He fought off two match points in the 12th game of the third set, then fell behind 6-2 in the tiebreaker before pulling even with Draper.

　　Federer wasted three match points of his own before a double-fault by Draper gave him another chance to close it out.

　　"I played well on the match points," said Federer, who won his tour-best 58th match of the year. "It wasn't his mistakes. I played well at the end and deserved to win."