MELBOURNE, Jan. 17 (UPI) -- What little remains of the star quality in the men's draw at the Australian Open got off to a good start Thursday as Marat Safin advanced to the third round of the upset-plagued event.
Safin, seeded ninth and one of only four of the top 10 seeds remaining, rolled past Christophe Roches of Belgium, 6-2, 7-6 (8-6), 6-1, moving him within one victory of a possible round of 16 matchup with Pete Sampras.
Safin served 13 aces to two for Roches in a match that lasted less than two hours.
As the second round of the two-week tournament was completed Thursday, the top five seeds in the men's draw had already been eliminated, the first time that has ever happened in a Grand Slam event.
That left the tournament wide open and the winner could easily emerge from Safin's quarter of the draw, where both Sampras and fellow-American Andy Roddick were placed.
The eighth-seeded Sampras had a second-round match scheduled later Thursday against Juan Ignacio Chela of Argentina while Roddick, seeded No. 13, faced Ivan Ljubicic of Croatia.
The top seed remaining among the men's field, No. 6 Tim Henman, will play Friday in the third round against fellow-Britain Greg Rusedski.
In early action Thursday, seventh-seeded Tommy Haas of Germany defeated Jean-Francois Bachelot of France, 6-1, 6-2, 6-3; Gaston Gaudio of Argentina surprised 15th seed Arnaud Clement of France, 6-4, 4-6, 6-2, 7-6 (7-1); and No. 23 Nicolas Lapentti of Ecuador downed Jose Acasuso of Argentina, 7-6 (7-5), 6-2, 6-3.
The top match on the women's side was not scheduled until the evening session, when No. 1 Jennifer Capriati faced Meilen Tu.
Justin Henin of Belgium, seeded sixth, fought her way past Marta Marrero of Spain, 6-3, 3-6, 6-1; while seventh seeded Amelie Mauresmo of France was a 7-5, 6-3 winner over Katarina Srebotnik of Slovakia and Russia's Elena Dementieva, seeded 12th, won over countrywoman Anastasia Myskina, 6-4, 6-2.
Second-seeded Venus Williams, troubled by knee tendinitis, had the day off to rest before facing Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia on Friday.
Sampras is going for his first tournament victory since Wimbledon in 2000. Last season was the first year he went without a tournament triumph since 1989.
Sampras met Chela here in the third round last year and posted a 6-4, 4-6, 7-5, 6-2 victory.
This is the first Grand Slam event since that match for Chela, who received a three-month suspension for testing positive for methyltestosterone, a prohibited substance under anti-dopping rules. He started this season well, reaching the final in Sydney last week.
