MELBOURNE, Australia - Andre Agassi and Marat Safin were quick and nearly mistake-free in advancing to the third round of the Australian Open.
The eighth-seeded Agassi looked sharp Wednesday in beating Rainer Schuettler of Germany 6-3, 6-1, 6-0 in a rematch of the 2003 final. Agassi, who has been working through stiffness from a hip injury that raised doubts whether he could even play in the Grand Slam opener, is seeking his fifth Australian Open title.
Safin, who tied a record with 30 sets spanning 20 hours in seven matches last year, is trying to conserve energy this time after running out of gas against Roger Federer in the final. He needed only 1 hour and 21 minutes to oust Bohdan Ulihrach of the Czech Republic 6-4, 6-1, 6-3.
Federer, meanwhile, held off qualifier Takao Suzuki of Japan 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 to extend his winning streak to 23 straight matches.
"It was great atmosphere, a fantastic match," Federer said. "He was up a break in the first set, and I had to play a great shot to break back. Who knows what might have happened if he plays so well that he wins the first set?"
Agassi and Safin weren't the only ones in a hurry.
Putting a doping allegation out of her mind, U.S. Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova, seeded fifth, took out her frustrations on Marion Bartoli of France 6-2, 6-0 in just 40 minutes. Seventh-seeded Serena Williams lost only seven points in the second set of a 6-3, 6-0 win over Dally Randriantefy of Madagascar that lasted 48 minutes.
But second-seeded Amelie Mauresmo and Wimbledon champion Maria Sharapova both had to bounce back after losing the first sets in their matches.
As he did in his first-round match, Agassi looked as though he needed a little time to get loosened up. Once he did, Schuettler, a fellow baseliner, had no answer to his stinging, angled groundstrokes.
"To say it was 100 percent would probably be overstating it," Agassi said. "I felt as the match went on I was getting more comfortable with my movement, and that's a good thing. My movement was... plenty good enough for me to think about my game and not think about that."
While the victory put him closer to his ninth Grand Slam title, he said he has nothing to brag about at home - wife Steffi Graf won 22.
"I've won a lot of tournaments, but I still come second at home," he said.
Agassi next faces fellow American Taylor Dent, seeded 29th, while Safin takes on No. 28 Mario Ancic.
"I think Taylor is as difficult an opponent as one can have," Agassi said. "He puts pressure on you constantly, makes you hit your shots. I'll have to be returning well and doing all sorts of things well."
Williams is trying to recapture the form that made her the Australian Open champion in 2003, when she completed her personal Grand Slam of four consecutive majors. She missed last year's tournament because of a knee injury.
She didn't drop a point on serve in the second set until the final game, when she made two unforced errors. Williams set up match point with a curling forehand winner and ended the match with her sixth ace.
"I definitely tried to step my game up," said Williams, who hit 38 winners and only 18 unforced errors.
My form "is definitely getting better and better with each match," she said. "I hit a lot of winners against a girl that actually gets a lot of balls back. So I was excited."
Williams will play 18-year-old Sania Mirza, a 6-2, 6-1 winner over Petra Mandula, in the next round. Mirza, playing in her first major, is the first Indian woman to make the third round of a Grand Slam tournament.
Sharapova, a 17-year-old Russian star who beat Williams in the last Wimbledon final, needed six match points to beat American Lindsay Lee-Waters.
Sharapova committed 44 unforced errors, mostly in the first set, and looked exhausted, running a bag of ice over her neck and shoulders between games as temperatures rose to nearly 95 degrees.
Kuznetsova was forced to deal with a doping charge Tuesday. She joined WTA Tour CEO Larry Scott in a sharp rebuke of Belgian regional sports minister Claude Eerdekens, who said the Russian player tested positive for the stimulant ephedrine during a charity event last month.
While the common ingredient in cold medicine is on the banned list during competition, it's not off limits during the offseason.
"When I was on court, I wasn't thinking about it," she said. But as she walked off, "it all started coming back."
She didn't rule out legal action against Eerdekens.
"It's not my decision now," she said. "He has to pay for it."
Ninth-seeded Vera Zvonareva of Russia, with 11 double-faults, lost 6-3, 6-3 to compatriot Vera Douchevina.
Mauresmo, the Olympic silver medalist and Australian runner-up in 1999, overcame poor serving in the first set and reeled off the last 10 consecutive games in a 2-6, 6-1, 6-0 win over 18-year-old Dinara Safina.
On the men's side, French Open champion Gaston Gaudio overcame Olympic silver medalist Mardy Fish 2-6, 6-4, 7-5, 7-6 (4), and Belgium's Olivier Rochus had a 6-1, 6-3, 6-3 win over Gael Monfils, an 18-year-old Frenchman who won three of the four junior majors last season.
Tommy Robredo (13) Dominik Hrbaty (20), Feliciano Lopez (24), Mario Ancic (28), Taylor Dent (29) and 2002 Australian champion Thomas Johansson (30) were among the seeded players advancing in the men's draw.
Tommy Haas, seeded 16th, was upset 5-7, 2-6, 6-2, 7-6 (5), 6-3 by Slovakia's Karol Beck.
Other seeded players ousted were Ivan Ljubicic (22) and Paradorn Srichaphan (27).
The Augusta Chronicle ©2012 Morris Communications, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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