MONACO Australia's Lleyton Hewitt underlined his status as world number one as he beat Andre Agassi in a thrilling three-set San Jose final at the weekend to remain top of the ATP's entry system rankings.

Hewitt's 4,295 points gives him a 910-point lead over world number two Gustavo Kuerten.

The Brazilian had surgery on a troublesome hip injury last week and is likely to see his ranking tumble over the coming weeks as he is forced to sit on the sidelines.

Yevgeny Kafelnikov and Juan Carlos Ferrero swapped places with Russia's Kafelnikov leapfrogging the Spaniard into third spot while Agassi remained in fifth place.

France's Fabrice Santoro jumped six places into 20th position with his win in the Dubai final over Morocco's Younes el Aynaoui who remains in 21st spot, Reuters reported.

The entry system rankings are based on results over a rolling 12-month period and are used to determine seedings for tournaments.