Korda not distracted as he sails through

Defending champion Petr Korda, the man at the centre of the International Tennis Federation's current drugs controversy, moved into the third round of the Australian Open with a straight sets win over Spaniard Julian Alonso at Melbourne Park in the early hours of this morning.

Korda, unseeded this year, ousted 104 world-ranked Alonso, 6-3, 6-1, 6-1 to reach the last 32.

The defending champion exerted little energy on show-court number one as he dismissed the last remaining Spaniard in the men's draw.

The 30-year-old Czech was in complete control from the outset of his match against the Spanish clay-courter, running him all the court with his superior serve and volley game.

Korda, who has been under intense scrutiny after failing a drugs test at Wimbledon last year, also showed no signs of the ankle injury which he sustained during his opening round match against another Spaniard Galo Blanco.

Korda's title defence looked to be in early trouble when he he fell heavily and twisted his ankle playing against Blanco before he recovered to win in five sets.

Blanco later refused to shake Korda's hand, accusing him of faking the injury. And four-times winner Monica Seles also advanced to the third round with a comfortable win over Alexia Dechaume-Balleret of France.

The sixth seeded Seles stretched her unbeaten Australian Open run to 30 matches with a 6-1, 6-4 win.

Norway's Christian Ruud sprang the biggest surprise of an unremarkable career to sink Spaniard Alex Corretja yesterday, costing the men's tournament another of its biggest names.

Ruud, without a tournament title in seven years as a professional, ambushed the world number three 3-6 6-3 6-4 6-4.

French Open runner-up Corretja never looked comfortable against an aggressive Ruud, who was happy to rely on his whippy forehand and play from well behind the baseline to take advantage of a swirling wind.

"From the baseline I didn't move so well. I was always waiting for his mistakes, and he didn't make any," said Corretja, who has never passed the third round.

Third seed Pat Rafter - the biggest name left in the men's draw - hit rich form to remain on course for a US Open final replay against compatriot Mark Philippoussis in the fourth round with a 6-2 6-4 6-4 win over Mark Woodforde, another Australian.

Big-serving Philippoussis earlier saw off American terrier Michael Chang, the 14th seed beating the 1989 French Open champion 7-6 2-6 6-3 5-7 7-5.

The loss of Corretja in the second round means the tournament is without the top three men in the world after Pete Sampras's decision to skip the season-opening Grand Slam and number two Marcelo Rios's late withdrawal with a back injury.

Rafter, 1995 champion Andre Agassi and sixth-seeded British hope Tim Henman are the main contenders left in the "most open Open" in years.

Agassi faces a clear run to the semi-finals, but dual US Open champion Rafter has the toughest road ahead and must survive against in-form Swede Thomas Enqvist in the next round before he can face Philippoussis. Then he would have a likely quarter-final against Henman.

Enqvist, 21, has yet to lose a match in Australia this year after winning warm-up events in Adelaide and Melbourne and kept his record intact with a 7-6 7-6 6-0 victory over Zimbabwe's Byron Black.

Sixth-seeded Henman, however, almost suffered the same fate as Corretja against Australian Sandon Stolle when he battled back to win 4-6 7-5 4-6 6-1 6-4.

Seventh seed Karol Kucera's progress to the third round was much less eventful, the Slovakian right-hander crushing Italy's Davide Sanguinetti 7-5 6-1 6-4.

World number one Lindsay Davenport reinforced her commanding recent form to crush Argentinian Florencia Labat 6-2 6-1. Seeds Jana Novotna, Conchita Martinez, Dominique Van Roost and Natasha Zvereva also advanced and fifth seed Venus Williams crushed Sweden's Asa Carlsson 6-2 6-1.

Swiss eighth seed Patty Schnyder was the highest-ranked woman to be knocked out when she lost 6-7 (1-7) 6-4 6-3 to Frenchwoman Amelie Mauresmo.

Germany's Anke Huber, a 1996 finalist, was beaten 6-7 6-3 7-5 by Austrian baseliner Sylvia Plischke, while Jennifer Capriati lost to Spain's Maria Antonia Sanchez Lorenzo 7-6 (7-2) 6-2.