Hewitt stuns Del Potro

(GETTY IMAGES)

Lleyton Hewitt returned to his old stomping ground at Wimbledon's Centre Court today to score the biggest upset in the men's draw so far with a 6-3 7-5 7-5 win over fifth seed Juan Martin Del Potro.

Australian Hewitt, ranked 56 in the world after a series of injuries but champion here in 2002, never allowed the Argentine an inch of breathing space with superb ground coverage and made the most of his opponent's discomfort at the net.

Del Potro, 20, a semi-finalist at Roland Garros last month, had his left knee taped up at the end of the first set after a nasty slip, and Hewitt, who won the opener in 45 minutes, rammed home his advantage.

Hewitt, roared on by a vocal section of Australian fans, won his only break point of the second set late on before taking it 7-5.

He served for the match at 5-4 but Del Potro levelled only for Hewitt to break again and he made no mistake second time around by holding his serve to book a third-round clash with either Philipp Petzschner or Mischa Zverev, both of Germany.

Meanwhile top seed Dinara Safina blasted her way into the third round with a 6-3 7-5 victory over Paraguay's Rossana De Los Rios.

Safina, the world number one but still chasing her first grand slam crown, used a mix of powerful serving and superior groundstrokes to unseat the South American, ranked 99 places beneath her.

The Russian took the opener in 35 minutes courtesy of a single break and another break was all she needed to wrap up the match in an hour and 22 minutes, sealing victory with a crunching backhand crosscourt winner.

Safina will bid to reach the fourth round here for the first in her career against Belgium's Kirsten Flipkens.