Haas springs surprise at US Open

Tommy Haas, who missed all of the 2003 season due to two shoulder operations, moved into the third round of the US Open by ousting 12th seed Sebastien Grosjean of France.

A former top-10 player, Haas is on the comeback trail and has won two tournaments this season, including a triumph over Andy Roddick in the finals of the US Clay Court Championship in April.

And he proved too strong for Grosjean, winning 6-4 6-4 1-6 6-1.

Fourth seed and 2001 champion Lleyton Hewitt of Australia was expected to have a difficult time with Hicham Arazi, but he dispatched the Moroccan left-hander 7-6 (9-7) 6-1 6-2.

Arazi squandered two set points in the first-set tie-break, and Hewitt pounced on the opportunity.

The first set took 59 minutes before Hewitt took control and won the final two in just less than an hour.

Hewitt has not made it past the quarter-finals in any of the three previous Grand Slams this year.

Second seed Amelie Mauresmo of France opened play on stadium court, easily defeating 31st seed Maria Vento-Kabchi of Venezuela 6-2 6-0 in a match that took just 57 minutes.

“I felt more comfortable. Everything is coming together,” said Mauresmo, who was pushed to three sets in her previous match by Julia Vakulenko of the Ukraine.

A Wimbledon semi-finalist, Mauresmo has won three titles this year and also reached the Olympic final.

Twelfth seed Ai Sugiyama of Japan was also an early winner, needing just 58 minutes to eliminate Jelena Kostanic of Croatia 6-1 6-3.

Sixth seed Elena Dementieva of Russia had an even easier time, moving into the fourth round with a walkover when 28th seed Nathalie Dechy of France withdrew due to a left thigh strain.

The main attraction later is top seed Roddick and his clash with talented young Spaniard Rafael Nadal.