Cincinnati (Ohio), Aug 19 (DPA) Two-time runner-up Lleyton Hewitt led fellow Aussie Chris Guccione to win Tuesday at the Cincinnati Masters with his upset of Swedish 12th seed Robin Soderling 3-6, 7-6 (10-8), 6-4.

Playing after recovering from an elbow injury that had kept him out of Montreal, French Open finalist Soderling was unable to close out against the determined Hewitt.

The two-time Grand Slam champion Australian saved match points in the second-set tiebreaker on his way to turning it around for victory in the third.

'It was always gonna be a tough match,' said the winner, now facing German Benjamin Becker in the second round.

'Soderling's been playing great the last three or four months. He wants to play on his terms, and he wants to dictate play. I had to weather the storm out there today and wait for my opportunities.

'The second-set tiebreak could have gone either way. But I played a good game the first game of the third set to break serve, and served well for the rest of that set.'

Qualifier Guccione knocked off German Philipp Kohlschreiber 7-5, 2-6, 6-3, hammering 19 aces in his 90-minute win.

Hewitt, a year removed from the hip surgery that saved his career, said he is felling fit.

'I have no points to defend, I didn't play this time last year. So this year I've gotten better and better as it's gone on,' he said.