SportsLine wire reports

MELBOURNE, Australia -- Hometown favorite Mark Philippoussis cleared his first hurdle at the Australian Open on Monday by beating 112th-ranked American Geoff Grant 6-3, 6-4, 6-3.

The 14th seed finished off Grant on his third match point after a cool display of forehand power and solid volleying.

HIS GROUNDSTROKES WERE particularly pleasing.

"I felt as the match went on, the timing on my groundstrokes got much better," he said.

The 22-year-old, dubbed "Scud" for his booming serves, dished out 18 aces in his victory.

Philippoussis is rated by bookmakers at 7-1 -- just behind American Andre Agassi -- to win the title as the list of withdrawals that began with world No. 1 Peter Sampras grew with the withdrawals of top seed Marcelo Rios and Goran Ivanisevic on Monday.

Philippoussis is on the crest of a wave after a recent string of match victories at the Colonial Classic exhibition event and the Hopman Cup, which he won with Jelena Dokic.

"I couldn't ask for a better start to a Grand Slam, to be honest," he said.

BUT HE IS IN A TOUGH quarter of the draw with fellow Australian Patrick Rafter (seeded third), Briton Tim Henman (seeded sixth), and Michael Chang, his next opponent, whom he beat last week at the Colonial Classic.

"It's going to be an extremely tough match," Philippoussis said of his second-round contest. "I'm sure he'd be looking for some revenge on Wednesday."

Hot weather and the hard courts blistered his feet badly last week, requiring a timeout on Monday night to tape his feet, but the Australian said he was feeling fine.

"I do feel confident at the moment," he said.