Defending champion Andy Roddick and triple-winner Lleyton Hewitt were both forced to battle hard before moving into the quarter-finals of the 767,000-euro Queen's Club tennis tournament in London.

Australian Hewitt, the champion in this traditional Wimbledon warm-up event from 2000-2002, subdued British minnow Jonathan Marray 7-6 (7/2), 7-6 (10/8) while top seed Roddick needed three sets to see off promising Croatian Mario Ancic.

Hewitt, the 2002 Wimbledon champion, began his match by dropping serve on a double-fault in the opening game.

But he managed to scrape through to the finish on his fifth match point after Marray, playing in only the second ATP-level event, made life a misery for the favourite.

"It was a tough match," said Hewitt. "He served well throughout. I couldn't seem to get onto his serve. It came down to me playing the big points just a bit better - but he came up with the goods."

The victory in 91 minutes improves Hewitt to 23-3 at Queen's in his seventh appearance.

Wimbledon title threat Roddick survived an ace-fest from Ancic, carving out a 7-6 (7/3), 4-6, 6-4 win.

The 20-year-old Croatian - heir apparent to Goran Ivanisevic - rained down 14 aces while Roddick, holder of the game's fastest serve, only managed eight.

The American defending champion said that claiming the welcome win was a matter of playing a waiting game and riding out the service storm.

"He wasn't giving me many looks on serve," said the American.

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