Greg Rusedski [ Images ] has put aside his off-court troubles to beat Argentina's Juan Ignacio Chela 7-6, 7-6 at the Sydney [ Images ] international.

The British number two regained his composure after failing to serve out for the match in the second set, winning a second successive tiebreak to send the higher-ranked South American tumbling out of the tournament on Monday.

Chela, a finalist in Sydney two years ago, twice had a chance to square the match at one set all only to be denied by the booming left-hand serve of Rusedski, who celebrated his victory by punching the air in delight.

"It meant a lot to me today," said Rusedski, who has vowed to clear his name after testing positive for the banned anabolic steroid nandrolone.

"This has given me a real lift, to come out and play this well and to be able to my job properly."

Rusedski was joined in the second round by Australia's [ Images ] Lleyton Hewitt [ Images ], the former world number one and two-time Sydney champion, who defeated Sargis Sargsian of Armenia 6-4, 6-2.

Hewitt restricted himself to helping Australia win the Davis Cup after being eliminated in the quarter-finals at last year's U.S. Open.

He made his comeback at the Hopman Cup mixed team's event in Perth last weekend and says he is feeling revitalised after his lay-off.

"I'm feeling like I'm hitting the ball just as well [as ever]," Hewitt said.

"I've had a different preparation this year. I did a lot of hard work and training so that I'd last right through the Australian summer."

The tournament lost its first big name when Chile's sixth-seed Nicolas Massu [ Images ] fell 7-6, 2-6, 6-4 to Sydney teenager Todd Reid, who had claimed the scalp of Wayne Ferreira in Adelaide a week ago.

There were no major surprises in the first three women's matches played on Monday with Spain's Conchita Martinez, Italy's [ Images ] Francesca Schiavone and American Meghann Shaughnessy all recording wins.

Eight of the top-10 ranked women in the world have entered the event, one of the main lead-ups to the Australian Open [ Images ], but the top four seeds were all handed first-round byes.