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Lleyton Hewitt was forced to dig deep to beat Frederico Gil 3-6 6-2 6-2 in the second round at Queen's on a day that saw seeds Marin Cilic and Paul-Henri Mathieu beaten.

Russia's Marat Safin also withdrew from the tournament with a back injury.

Hewitt is a four-times champion at the traditional Wimbledon warm-up event, but his chances of winning a fifth title looked to be slipping away when the Portuguese Gil outplayed the Australian to take the first set.

But Hewitt hit back to take the second set before finishing off the Portuguese ruthlessly in the third to set up a clash with fellow four-times winner Andy Roddick.

Nicolas Mahut of France produced the first major surprise of the tournament by defeating fifth seed Marin Cilic 7-6(1) 7-6(4).

Cilic, regarded as one of the sport's rising stars, arrived in London as a decent bet to lift the trophy, but he was unceremoniously dumped out in his first match following a first-round bye.

Mahut, runner-up at Queen's in 2007, has hardly played this season due to shoulder problems, but he quickly found his rhythm on a surface perfectly suited to his bold stroke-play.

After a 75-minute rain delay at the start of the day, the 146th-ranked Mahut took the first set on a tie-break and did the same in the second to clinch the victory.

Mahut revealed he lost his favoured racquet just before the match, but the thrill of being back at Queen's helped him through.

"My racquet just disappeared before my match, he said.

"Maybe a player took it by mistake. We have to find out what happened and ask two other players.

"But I've loved this surface since I won the Wimbledon title in juniors.

"Queen's is my favourite tournament. I have so many great memories and the crowd were fantastic with me."

Eleventh seed Mathieu fell to Spaniard Juan Carlos Ferrero 6-4 6-4 to set up a match with Xavier Malisse, who defeated South Africa's Rik de Voest after coming out on top in two epic tie-breaks to win 7-6(8) 7-6(8).

De Voest was given a berth in the tournament as a lucky loser following the withdrawal of the former Australian and US Open champion Marat Safin, who pulled out with a shoulder injury on Wednesday morning.

Mikhail Youzhny, the Russian 14th seed, knocked out former Australian Open finalist Marcos Baghdatis with a 6-4 7-6(3) victory in the second round.

Belgium's Steve Darcis set up a third-round clash with fourth-seeded Frenchman Gael Monfils after defeating Alberto Martin 6-2 6-4.

Gilles Simon came through a tough match 7-6(7) 7-6(5) against the 2008 Wimbledon and US Open junior champion Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria.

Dimitrov - labelled 'Baby Federer' for his superb forehand and movement around the court - threatened an upset but could not convert his chances against the Frenchman. He will need to be more ruthless at Wimbledon, where he has been given a wildcard.

ATP Queen's: Watch the whole tournament from June 8-14 LIVE on British Eurosport and British Eurosport 2 (Sky 410/411, Virgin Media 521/525); Also available on your PC via the Eurosport Player - click on the link under the picture to subscribe

Dan Rumens / AFP