Spaniards Ferrero and Martinez shocked

The Rediff Team

Day 3 at the Australian Open was relatively peaceful for seeded players, though a little better for the women.

Monica Seles (4), Anna Kournikova (8) and Jennifer Capriati (12) all strolled through to the third round with straight set victories over relatively unknown players.

Lindsay Davenport (2) had to work a little hrader but she too eventually overcame Germany's Greta Arn 6-2, 4-6, 6-2.

Conchita Martinez (5) however found her second round opponent too hot to handle. The Spaniard went down 7-5, 3-6, 6-8 to Switzerland's Emmanuelle Gagliardi.

On the men's side, Andre Agassi (6) and Tim Henman (8) enjoyed straight set victories.

However, it wasn't quite so smooth for the other seeded players. Pete Sampras (3) had to fight tooth and nail before defeating the Czech Republic's Bohdan Ulihrach 7-6, 7-6, 4-6, 7-5. Although Sampras committed twice as many unforced errors as Ulihrach and served badly, he managed to hit 61 winners, Furthermore, his ability to win the big points proved to be difference between the two men.

Also going through on 4-set triumphs were local boy Pat Rafter (12) and US Open champion Marat Safin (2). Rafter battled past Russia's Nikola Davydenko 6-4, 2-6, 6-3, 7-6 while Safin conquered Romania's Andrei Pavel 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 7-6.

One male seed who didn't survive a second round examination was Spain's Juan Carlos Ferrero (9) who went down to Australia's Andrew llie in 5 sets; Ferrero lost 6-3, 2-6, 1-6, 6-1, 6-2.

Day 4 promises to be interesting with intriguing matches such as Tommy Haas vs. Lleyton Hewitt (7) and top seed Gustavo Kuerten against the big-serving Brit Greg Rusedski. On the women's side, Serena Williams and Mary Pierce will grace Flinders Park.

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