Flushing Meadows, NY (My Sportsbook) - Fourth-seeded Lleyton Hewitt advanced to the third round of the U.S. Open, while seventh-seeded Juan Carlos Ferrero was ousted from the tournament on Friday.

The Australian Hewitt, who titled here in 2001, posted a 7-6 (9-7), 6-1, 6-2 victory over Moroccan Hicham Arazi in a second-round encounter. Hewitt has won 12 straight and 17 of his last 18 matches on the tour, including a runner-up finish to Andre Agassi in Cincinnati last month and back-to-back hardcourt titles over the past two weeks.

The former world No. 1 Hewitt now boasts a stellar 25-4 lifetime record at the U.S. Open.

Meanwhile, the Spaniard Ferrero struggled all afternoon against Stefan Koubek, finally succumbing to the Austrian in five sets. Koubek, who earned a 7-6 (7-2), 4-6, 6-7 (6-8), 6-2, 6-3 victory, will be making his first-ever appearance in the third round of the Open.

Elsewhere, Germany's Tommy Haas upset 12th-seeded Frenchman Sebastian Grosjean, 6-4, 6-4, 1-6, 6-1.

Other top seeded players scheduled for play on Friday include second-seeded Andy Roddick and eighth-seeded David Nalbandian. Roddick defeated Ferrero in last year's U.S. Open final.

In other Open news, Olympic champion Nicolas Massu of Chile was assessed two $500 fines for throwing his racket during a second-round setback to Sargis Sargsian on Thursday. The equipment abuse led to Massu having to forfeit the opening game of the fifth set.