New York, Sep 01: Former champion Lleyton Hewitt was ousted from the US Open in the second round by hard-hitting Argentine Agustin Calleri.

The 58th-ranked Calleri blasted 65 winners during the 4-6 6-4 6-4 6-2 victory on Louis Armstrong Stadium yesterday, keeping Hewitt on his heels for the final three sets.

"I think I played a very good match,"said Calleri. "I'm feeling very happy because I played the whole match very well.

I was very focused." Calleri, firing away from both wings, had 17 unforced errors in the first set but only 20 in the final three.

"Early in the second set, I didn't quite stamp my authority on the match after I won the first set," said Hewitt. "I could have put a little bit more pressure on him early in the second.

"He started to play better tennis from then on." The 30-year-old Calleri, who entered the Open with a 20-20 record in 2007, was near-flawless after the opening set to beat the Australian for the first time in three career meetings.

"If I hit the ball anywhere half in the middle of the court, dropped it short, he was all over it," said Hewitt, the 2001 Open titlist.

"I didn't quite play as well as I would have liked early in that second set. That gave him an opportunity to get back in the match." The second-round setback was his earliest exit from Flushing Meadows.

"He didn't miss a lot," said an obviously downcast Hewitt.

"And I didn't quite get enough on the ball."

Reuters>