Lleyton Hewitt and Andre Agassi recorded wins in the opening session of the Tennis Masters Cup, keeping alive their hopes of ending the year as the world's top-ranked player.
Australian Hewitt recovered from a sluggish start to beat Sebastien Grosjean 3-6, 6-2, 6-3 in his first round-robin match at the Sydney SuperDome on Monday night.
US veteran Agassi breezed to a 6-2, 6-4 win over Hewitt's compatriot, Pat Rafter.
US Open champion Hewitt (20) and Australian Open champion Agassi (31) are chasing Brazilian Gustavo Kuerten in the race to be year-end world number one. The final rankings will depend on results this week.
Kuerten, aiming to be number one for the second straight year, plays his opening match in the Ken Rosewall Group on Tuesday against Goran Ivanisevic. Spaniard Juan Carlos Ferrero will play Russia's Yevgeny Kafelnikov.
The top two players from each group will advance to the semi-finals with the title being decided on Sunday.
AFP