Hewitt Wins Opener; Flanagan, Marray Through

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Three-time champion Lleyton Hewitt cruised into the third round of the Stella Artois Championships with a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Spain's Marc Lopez, but there was not such good news for second seed Guillermo Coria, who went down in straight sets to Yen-Hsun Lu.

Hewitt, the No. 6 seed who won the title three years in succession between 2000 and '02, has won 18 of his last 19 matches at The Queen's Club.

"It feels good to get back on the grass," said Hewitt. "The first few games are always tough to find your feet, no matter how much you practice. But I started moving better and better as the match went on.

"I've always enjoyed playing here at this tournament and you enjoy it even more when you've had the kind of results that I've had here."

The Australian now has a 22-3 record in the tournament and took just under an hour to book his place in the last 16, where he will now meet wild card Jonathan Marray. The 23-year-old won the battle of the Brits with a 6-4, 6-3 victory over Jamie Delgado.

Looking ahead to his match against Hewitt, Marray said: "I've got a pretty simple game plan no matter who I play. I'm trying to get to the net as quick as possible, which is where my strength is. I've got nothing to lose. I've won a couple of rounds here, which is more than I expected to do, so anything else is a bonus from here."

Meanwhile, British qualifier Ian Flanagan continued his impressive ATP debut. The 22-year-old Nottingham-based Welshman followed up his first round victory over Mark Philippoussis with a 7-6(4), 6-4 win over Romanian Victor Hanescu. Flanagan, who came into the tournament at No. 866 in the INDESIT ATP Entry Rankings, will now meet last year's runner-up Sebastien Grosjean.

"Today's match was more difficult after yesterday's frenzy," said Flanagan. "But I managed to stay calm and get through it in the end. Some of it's a shock that I'm in the third round at Queen's, but I knew I had the ability to do it."

Grosjean booked his place in the last 16 with a comfortable 6-3, 6-1 victory over Australian qualifier Todd Reid, the man he defeated in the third round last year en route to the final against Andy Roddick.

The Frenchman, who ended Hewitt's three-year reign at the Stella Artois Championships in the quarterfinals 12 months ago, took just 53 minutes to earn his meeting with Flanagan.

Elsewhere on day three, second seeded Coria, who arrived at The Queen's Club after losing in the final at Roland Garros in Paris last week, was looking for the first grass court win of his career (0-2). But the Argentine could do nothing to stop the impressive Lu, the 20-year-old from Taiwan who came through 6-2, 6-4.

Earlier this year, Lu reached five consecutive Challenger finals, winning two in Joslin and Tasmania and later advanced to a sixth final in Mexico. Lu, who has a 30-8 record in the Challengers this year, will now meet Czech Radek Stepanek for a place in the quarterfinals.

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