Agassi Drives Through With Full Tank

Andre Agassi refused to get carried away after his 6-1, 6-0, 6-0 demolition of South Korean Lee Hyung-taik in the second round of the Australian Open this morning.

The second seed, bidding to become the first overseas man to win four titles in Melbourne, admitted that he may have benefited from a tougher workout than he got from Lee.

"Everybody has their gas tank and you don't want to spend more than you need to," he reflected. "But that said, you do want to make sure you have what it takes when you do get pushed."

Lee, the son of a potato farmer, had come into the Open on a high after becoming the first South Korean to win an ATP title at the weekend with victory at the Sydney International.

But he was brought back down to earth with a bump as Agassi displayed his ruthless streak.

After winning the opening game of the match, Lee then lost the next 18 as the seven times grand slam winner romped to an 80-minute victory.

"Needless to say I felt great about everything," Agassi said. "I was hitting the ball with conviction, my errors were down, my winners were up."

The Australian Open champion of 1995, 2000 and 2001 confessed, however, that Lee had rattled him at the start of the match when he held his own serve and held three break points in the second game.

"He had me love-40 on my serve and I felt an immediate sense of urgency. I felt his game and just picked up my shots, sort of got a little momentum and never looked back," he said.

"It's impossible to have a score line like that without playing well. For it to go that way was certainly unexpected."

Agassi now faces Frenchman Nicolas Escude in the third round and claims he is in the right form to take home his eighth grand slam title.

"I came down here ready to go because we get out of the blocks so quickly. January 1 comes and the next thing you're thinking about is a grand slam," he said.

But he refused to buy into talk that his path to the final would be plain sailing.

"You hope you always play your best tennis in the best of situations. But my experience in grand slam play is that you can never predict how it's going to unfold," he said.

"So you need to constantly push yourself to play your best."

Kafelnikov crumbles

Less content was former champion Yevgeny Kafelnikov, defeated in five gruelling sets by Finn Jarkko Nieminen 6-3, 6-3, 3-6, 4-6, 6-1.

Kafelnikov, winner here in 1999 and runner-up a year later, ran out of gas, as Agassi would put it, after clawing his way back from two sets down and could offer little resistance in the decider.

Sixty-one unforced errors by the Russian tells its own story and, despite some powerful hitting from the back of the court, the 22nd seed left himself with too much to do.

Nieminen, a first round loser last year on his Melbourne Park debut, will now take on either Guillermo Canas or Guillermo Coria in the third round.

Australian Open second round men's singles results

Jarkko Nieminen (Finland) beat 22-Yevgeny Kafelnikov (Russia) 6-3, 6-3, 3-6, 4-6, 6-1

28-Fabrice Santoro (France) beat Wayne Arthurs (Australia) 6-3, 6-1 (retired)

Sargis Sargsian (Armenia) beat 17-Gaston Gaudio (Argentina) 2-6, 7-5, 6-2, 6-2

2-Andre Agassi (US) beat Lee Hyung-taik (South Korea) 6-1, 6-0, 6-0

24-Nicolas Lapentti (Ecuador) beat David Sanchez (Spain) 6-1, 6-0, 2-6, 6-2

Wayne Ferreira (South Africa) beat Michel Kratochvil (Switzerland) 6-2, 6-2, 7-5

4-Juan Carlos Ferrero (Spain) beat Jean-Rene Lisnard (France) 6-0, 6-4, 6-2

8-Albert Costa (Spain) beat Scott Draper (Australia) 6-4, 6-7 (9-11), 6-2, 6-3

12-Sebastien Grosjean (France) beat Karol Kucera (Slovakia) 7-6 (7-2), 2-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7-1)

Felix Mantilla (Spain) beat 27-Jan-Michael Gambill (US) 5-7, 6-4, 4-6, 6-3, 6-2