Dent advances to third round of Australian Open

MELBOURNE, Australia -- Taylor Dent served and volleyed. Then he returned and volleyed.

Dent advanced to the third round of the Australian Open on Wednesday with a 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 victory over Sweden's Andreas Vinciguerra, another promising 20-year-old who reached the fourth round last year.

Dent's big serve and aggressive net play showed why both the Australian and U.S. Davis Cup teams are interested in the American whose father, Phil, was once Australia's top player.

"It's definitely flattering," Dent said.

Dent said he's leaning toward playing for the United States, but is putting off a decision because "I need to get better first."

Because of his links to Australia, Dent was given a wild-card entry despite finishing last year at No. 116 in the world rankings after a back injury in the U.S. Open.

Against Vinciguerra, Dent chipped and charged against every one of the Swede's second serves and broke him six times. Dent served at up to 132 mph, but said he's holding back slightly while caring for his back with icing and stretching.

"Everything else I'm going 100 percent," he said. "Hopefully I can keep raising my level as the tournament goes on."

At Wimbledon, he had the fastest record serve of the year -- 144 mph -- and forced current No. 1 Lleyton Hewitt into five sets before losing in the second round.

Sixth-seeded Tim Henman of Britain also advanced, beating Vladimir Voltchkov of Belarus 6-3, 6-4, 6-1. Henman has reached the semifinals at Wimbledon three times, but never gone beyond the fourth round at any other Grand Slam event.

No. 16 Thomas Johansson of Sweden beat Austria's Markus Hipfl 6-4, 6-1, 6-4.

In women's matches, four-time Australian Open champion Monica Seles, the eighth seed, beat Zimbabwe's Cara Black 6-1, 6-1.

No. 15 Amanda Coetzer ousted Paraguay's Rossana Neffa-De Los Rios 6-3, 6-1, and No. 18 Lisa Raymond beat American compatriot Jill Craybas 6-3, 6-3.