Hewitt upstaged in Atlanta

Third seed Lleyton Hewitt was a surprise casualty of the Atlanta Tennis Championships when he lost to Slovakia's Lukas Lacko.

Hewitt, out to make a winning start to his American hardcourt season, lost 6-4 6-2 to the 76th-ranked Lacko.

In a tight first set, Lacko led by a break at 3-1 only to give back a pair to trail 3-4. He then broke back twice, winning the set with his third break of the night.

Hewitt then collapsed in the second set and finished with seven double-faults.

Top seed Andy Roddick had to dig deep in a tough encounter with Rajeev Ram.

The world number nine, back in action for the first time since Wimbledon, became the fifth American to reach the last eight of the hard-court tournament by posting 6-1 6-7 (1-7) 6-3 triumph.

Roddick joins John Isner, Mardy Fish, Taylor Dent and Michael Russell as the US contingent in the next round.

Next up for the 2003 US Open champion is a meeting with seventh seed Xavier Malisse, who advanced with a 6-3 6-3 win over Ukraine's Illya Marchenko.

Roddick defeated Malisse in the Atlanta final in 2001, the last time the ATP Tour visited the city prior to this year, and enjoys an 8-0 career record against the Belgian.

Donald Young failed to make it six Americans in the last eight as he went down to a 7-5 6-3 defeat at the hands of South African Kevin Anderson.