World Number 1 Lleyton Hewitt crashed out in the first round of the Australian Open today.
The 20-year-old Australian, last year's US Open champion, was beaten 6-1, 1-6, 4-6, 6-7 (4/7) by unseeded Alberto Martin of Spain.
Hewitt was the first top seed to lose in the first round at Melbourne since the Open era began in 1968.
Hewitt's departure means the top three men's seeds have all gone.
Defending champion and third seed Andre Agassi of the-United States withdrew with a wrist injury before his first round match and second seed Gustavo Kuerten of Brazil lost to Julien Boutter of France in the first round on Monday.
Hewitt's defeat opens the door to Pete Sampras who previously would have had to beat Agassi and Hewitt to win his 14th Grand Slam title. He won his opening match against Jarkko Nieminen 6-3, 6-3, 6-4.
In the women's draw defending champion Jennifer Capriati looked impressive when beating Croatian Silvija Talaja 6-4, 6-1.
But Anna Kournikova was knocked out, going down 6-2, 7-5 to Belgian Kim Clijsters.
AFP