Roddick hobbles out; Sampras, Capriati move on

Andy Roddick hobbled out of the Australian Open on Thursday as the seeds' disease at the first Grand Slam of the year grew to epidemic proportions.

The American 13th seed withdrew after twisting his ankle in his second round match against Croatian Ivan Ljubicic when trailing 7-6, 3-2.

"It's pretty crushing. It's happened a little too much and it is just really disheartening," Roddick said after joining an ever-expanding list of high-profile names to have exited the tournament in the first four days.

The top five seeds all failed to make the third round for the first time in the Australian Open's 97-year history, with only 13 of the original 32 seeds reaching round three.

Thursday's losers included last year's runner-up Arnaud Clement and former world number one Carlos Moya, who was beaten in the 1997 Melbourne final.

Top-seeded Lleyton Hewitt and second seed Gustavo Kuerten lost in the first round, while last year's winner Andre Agassi withdrew injured hours before his opening match.

They were followed out in round two by fourth seed and former champion Yevgeny Kafelnikov and fifth seed Sebastien Grosjean, a semifinalist 12 months ago.

Wimbledon champion Goran Ivanisevic, seeded 10th, also fell at the second round stage, while female fans' favourite Jan-Michael Gambill, the 19th seed, could not get past the first hurdle.

While tournament organisers say the fate of the big names simply reflects the depth of talent in the men's game, the loss of crowd-pleasing youngster Roddick was yet another blow.

GRIMACING

Chasing a ball in the first set tiebreak, Roddick turned his ankle heavily and fell to the ground grimacing in pain. He had twisted the same right ankle in his first match against Argentine Mariano Zabaleta on Tuesday, prompting fears he could withdraw then.

Wincing when he put weight on the ankle, Roddick's movement was severely hampered and he lost the tiebreak 13-11.

Roddick continued but after holding his serve for 3-2 he approached the net and shook Ljubicic's hand before leaving the court to sympathetic applause.

"I am pretty much sick and tired of it now. It is so disappointing because my body felt pretty good here," he said. "I'm really running out of answers I don't know what to do."

Roddick's exit further opened up the draw, with Russian ninth seed Marat Safin among players hoping to capitalise.

He moved smoothly into round three, hammering Christophe Rochus 6-2, 7-6, 6-1.

Safin and Pete Sampras are the only players left in the men's draw who have won a Grand Slam title, but they are projected to meet in the fourth round.

Moya, seeded 17th, was the latest grand slam winner to exit, the 1998 French Open champion blowing a two-set lead to lose 3-6, 6-7, 6-1, 7-6, 6-2 to German Rainer Schuettler.

SKIDDED OUT

Sampras overcame a third-set lapse in concentration to beat Juan Ignacio Chela 6-3, 7-5, 3-6, 6-4.

"It has been a pretty bizarre tournament," Sampras said.

"But you can't be too consumed with what's going on, you can't look ahead at who's left and who's not left because there are a lot of great players."

Clement's bid to go one better than last year was snuffed out in the second round when the 15th seed went down 6-4, 4-6, 6-2, 7-6 to Argentine Gaston Gaudio.

Olympic silver medallist Tommy Haas, who eased into the third round, is emerging as a dark horse. The German, a semifinalist here in 1999, overpowered French qualifier Jean-Francois Bachelot 6-1, 6-2, 6-3.

Switzerland's Roger Federer has also been in great form since winning last week's Sydney International, the 11th seed easing through 6-2, 7-5, 6-4 against Hungarian Attila Savolt.

In a shock-free women's draw, defending champion and world number one Jennifer Capriati posted a comfortable 6-1, 6-3 win over fellow American Meilen Tu.

Sixth seed Justine Henin overcame a second-set slip to move into the third round with a 6-3, 3-6, 6-1 win over Marta Marrero as fellow Belgian and fourth seed Kim Clijsters crushed Austria's Barbara Schwartz 6-1, 6-1.

Russian 12th seed Elena Dementieva comfortably beat fellow Russian Anastasia Myskina 6-4, 6-2, while seventh seed and former runner-up Amelie Mauresmo of France defeated Slovenia's Katarina Srebotnik 7-5, 6-3.