Safin, Agassi, Federer Advance in Straights at Australian Open

Two of the second-tier challengers to the throne of world No. 1 Roger Federer, No. 4 seed Marat Safin and No. 8 Andre Agassi, looked in dominating form Wednesday, advancing into the third round of play at the Australian Open.

Safin, the defending runner-up with a not-so-impressive 2005 resume that features a lone appearance at the Hopman Cup exhibition where he tanked half his matches, rolled Czech Bohdan Ulihrach 6-4, 6-1, 6-3. Agassi, still a question mark after the flare-up of his chronic hip injury, looked to have no physical hindrances in pasting 2003 runner-up Rainer "Shine" Schuettler 6-3, 6-1, 6-0.

"It's only the second match, but it's certainly a great one for me," said Agassi, who will now face serve-and-volley countryman Taylor Dent in a marquis match-up. "To say it was 100 percent would probably be overstating it, but to be able to have the time to get it better up to this point is a great sign that it will be 100 percent."

The top-seeded Federer defeated unseeded Takao Suzuki 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 in the final match of the day. The contest featured a highlight's reel of shot-making, with the Japanese Suziki pressuring the Swiss with a net-rushing attack that yielded an early break in the opening set.

Other seeded winners Wednesday were (10) Gaston Gaudio (d. the head-shaven Mardy "Silver" Fish after dropping the first set), (11) Joachim "The Jackhammer" Johansson (d. Peter "Captain, the Wadar Shows Two Approaching" Wessels), (13) Tommy Robredo (d. Zib in four), (20) Dominik "The Dominator" Hrbaty (d. Tipsarevic in four), (24) Feliciano "F-Lo" Lopez (d. Sargis "Sarge" Sargsian after dropping the first), the under-the-radar back-from-injury (28) Mario "Baby Goran" Ancic (d. Phau), (29) Taylor "Making a" Dent (d. Tabara), and (30) Thomas "Tommy the J." Johansson (d. Calleri in five).

"I'm not disappointed to lose to someone like that," Fish said after dropping the golden opportunity against Gaudio, who had a losing record on hardcourts in 2004. "I don't think I took a step back."

Three lower seeds were ousted Wednesday in former No. 2-ranked (16) Tommy Haas (l. to Beck, blowing a 2-0 set lead), (22) Ivan Ljubicic (l. to Marcos "Bombs Over" Baghdatis in four), and (27) Paradorn "The Thai Fighter" Srichaphan (l. to Nieminen).

Other un-seeds into the third round were American Kevin Kim (d. Guillermo "G-Lo" Garcia-Lopez), and Olivier "The Roach" Rochus (d. former No. 1 junior Gael "Force" Monfils, dropping only seven games).

There were also two upsets in men's doubles, with the Austrian/German combo of Jurgen "Tuna" Melzer/Alexander Waske shocking top seeds Mark Knowles/Daniel Nestor in straight sets, and Chela/Sebastian Prieto defeating 2004 Masters Cup qualifiers (7) Gaston Etlis/Martin Rodriguez in an all-Argentine clash.

On tap for Thursday in Melbourne are (15) Youzhny vs. Rafael "The Prodigy" Nadal, Blake vs. (3) Hewitt, "Grinning Greg Rusedski vs. (2) Roddick, (6) Coria vs. Ricardo Mello "Yello", (7) Henman vs. Hanescu, Kohlschreiber vs. (18) Nicolas "The Golden Child" Massu, Santiago "Ace" Ventura vs. (9) Nalbandian, Zabaleta vs. (31) Ferrero, (14) Grosjean vs. Lisnard in an all-"Fraunch" dressing, Fernando "Hot Sauce" Verdasco vs. (12) Canas, (32) Jurgen "Tuna" Melzer vs. the Aussie hope Healey, Ginepri/Spadea vs. (2) Bryan brothers in an all-American doubles, (23) Fernando "Gonzo" Gonzalez vs. Andreev, Bobby Reynolds "Wrap" vs. (17) Pavel, Stepanek vs. Hernych in an all-blank-Czech, (25) Chela vs. Carraz, and Christophe "The Roach" Rochus vs. (26) Davydenko.