Top seed Lleyton Hewitt stamped his authority on the Australian Open today with a demolition of Australian qualifier Todd Larkham.
Hewitt had been tested in a first round tussle with Magnus Larsson while his chief rival, American veteran Andre Agassi, stole his thunder.
But, typically, the 21-year-old Australian ace refused to be outdone, thumping Larkham 6-1 6-0 6-1 in just 74 minutes.
Agassi's brutal second round win over Korean Hyung-Taik Lee yesterday took just 80 minutes, while Hewitt's Belgian girlfriend, women's fourth seed Kim Clijsters, today raced to a crushing 6-0 6-0 win in only 33 minutes.
Hewitt seized the first set in 23 minutes, allowing just seven points to Larkham, who needed treatment for an injured shoulder while trailing 3-0 in the second set.
Grimacing and hiding his face in a towel, Larkham was forced to call a three-minute medical break.
When he returned, having already lost eight games on the trot, Larkham found no sympathy from Hewitt, who quickly clinched the second set.
Larkham then managed to hold his serve for only the second time in the match, and, punching the air, received warm applause in the packed Rod Laver Arena.
But Hewitt was relentless to the end, breaking to love in the last game.
Meanwhile, sixth-seed Monica Seles limped out of the tournament after falling in three sets to Czech debutant Klara Koulakova.
Seles' dream of adding a fifth Australian Open title to add to her nine career Grand Slams ended on the Margaret Court Arena as world number 113 Koukalova prevailed 6-7 (6/8), 7-5, 6-3.
Former world number one Seles had looked in doubt to complete the match after falling heavily on her ankle in the third game of the first set, needing a medical time-out for treatment.
When she returned with a heavily strapped left ankle she fought back from a break down to take the opening set on a tie break.
But 20-year-old Koukalova raised her game impressively in the second set, putting her opponent under pressure with 16 winners.
She levelled the match in the 12th game, firing a superb forehand down the line from a wide Seles serve to break. In the the third set Koukalova looked the fresher of the two players, and Koukalova served out strongly to set up a third round meeting with American 25th seed Meghann Shaughnessy.
There were no such problems for world number one Serena Williams and rising star Kim Clijsters, who are on an collision course, after they swept into the third round.
The two women both had comfortable victories against outclassed second round opponents, paving the way for a possible semi-final meeting between the two form players on the WTA Tour.
Clijsters, who dished out a 'double bagel' 6-0, 6-0 walloping to Hungary's Petra Mandula, was the last player to beat Williams when she upset the American to win the season-ending championships in Los Angeles in November.