Agassi crushes Korean as Venus glistens in court display

ANDRE Agassi swept into the Australian Open third round as Venus Williams donned her best jewellery to produce a sparkling victory.

Agassi, seeded two, needed just 80 minutes to blast aside South Korean challenger Lee Hyung-Taik with a 6-1, 6-0, 6-0 win.

The seven-time Grand Slam winner will play French Davis Cup star and 29th seed Nicolas Escude in the next round and is brimful of confidence after awarding himself top marks for his display.

“How can you not rate it 10 out of 10 when you play a guy of Lee’s quality, playing as well as he’s been playing. To go out there and have a score line like that doesn’t happen too often,” Agassi said.

Agassi is bidding to become only the fourth man to win four Australian Open titles, behind Roy Emerson (6), Jack Crawford (4) and Ken Rosewall (4).

Lee said playing Agassi was like hitting against a wall. Williams said she had been aware many of the leading contenders had struggled to find their best form so far. There was a high-profile casualty in the men’s tournament, with Spanish fifth seed Carlos Moya was unhinged by world number 77 Mardy Fish of the United States.

Fish reeled in his opponent 3-6, 7-6 (10-8), 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 and admitted he was as surprised as anyone to score a double over Moya after beating him in Sydney last week. Fish will play South African Wayne Ferreira in the next round, removing a sizeable obstacle from Agassi’s route to a fourth Australian Open crown.

There was a further upset in the men’s tournament with Olympic champion Yevgeny Kafelnikov suffering a five-set loss to Finland’s Jarkko Nieminen.

Nieminen sent the Russian 22nd seed and former winner packing with a 6-3, 6-3, 3-6, 4-6, 6-1 victory.

Two other prominent seeds both made it through safely, with number 4 Juan Carlos Ferrero of Spain and compatriot Albert Costa, seeded eight, advancing.

Ferrero downed Jean-Rene Lisnard of France 6-0, 6-4, 6-2, while Costa needed four sets before quelling Aussie Scott Draper 6-4, 6-7 (9/11), 6-2, 6-3.

There was an upset of sorts in the late match when Thailand’s Paradorn Srichaphan, seeded 11, was beaten by Mark Philippoussis in a five-set battle, the Australian sealing a 3-6, 6-1, 1-6, 7-5, 6-3 win with an ace.

In the women’s event, there was an early exit for Russian glamour girl Anna Kournikova, who was thrashed 6-0, 6-1 by Belgium’s Justin Henin-Hardenne, seeded five.

Seventh-seed Daniela Hantuchova’s looks, meanwhile, have seen her get the Kournikova treatment from the international media during her time on the tour.

But the Slovakian seventh seed showed nerves of steel to come through in three sets against Italy’s Adriana Serra Zanetti, winning 7-6 (8/6), 7-6 (7/3) to earn her place in the third round.

Lindsay Davenport breathed a sigh of relief after scrambling past Uzbekistan’s Iroda Tulyaganova.

The 26-year-old former world number one, who a year ago was learning how to walk on crutches after undergoing arthroscopic knee surgery, fought through a poor performance to win 6-7 (7/9) 6-4, 7-5.