Pete Sampras stayed on course for a 14th Grand Slam title today as seeds tumbled around him and the injury list grew at the Australian Open.
"It's been a pretty bizarre tournament but you have to just move on," said the eighth-seeded American after beating Juan-Ignacio Chela of Argentina 6-3, 7-5, 3-6, 6-4 in the second round.
He now plays Nicolas Escude, who came back from two sets down to beat Alex Calatrava of Spain in five sets.
As Sampras marched on the man tipped as a possible successor limped off.
Teenage sensation Andy Roddick joined the Australian Open casualty list when he was forced out after spraining his right ankle.
Croatia's Ivan Ljubicic was leading 7-6 (13/11), 3-2 at the time Roddick pulled out.
Arnaud Clement, last year's losing finalist and 15th seed, had earlier crashed out but former US Open champion Marat Safin (seeded 9th) and Tommy Haas (7th) stopped the rot.
Clement lost too many big points to Argentina's Gaston Gaudio, going down 6-4, 4-6, 6-2, 7-6 (7/3).
Haas moved into the third round with ease beating Frenchman Jean-Francois Bachelot 6-1, 6-2, 6-3 while Marat Safin also secured a straight sets wins (6-2, 7-6 (8/6), 6-1) over Christophe Rochus.
The the women's draw Belgian pair, Kim Clijsters and Justine Henin, moved safely through to the third round.