Safin, Haas advance; Clements takes a surprise exit

MELBOURNE, Australia -- Arnaud Clement, last year's runner-up, joined the list of players making early exits from the Australian Open, spraying shots wide and long in a loss Thursday to Argentina's Gaston Gaudio.

Gaudio, who had lost in the first round in his last six Grand Slam events, advanced to the third round with a 6-4, 4-6, 6-2, 7-6 (3) victory.

Clement, seeded 15th, missed on four of the last five points, netting a forehand in a short-range exchange at the end.

All five of the men's top seeds are gone, and No. 8 Pete Sampras, the U.S. Open runner-up, is the only player left from among the finalists at last year's four Grand Slams.

No. 7 Tommy Haas and No. 9 Marat Safin, the 2000 U.S. Open winner, both advanced.

Haas, an Australian Open semifinalist in 1999, made short work of French qualifier Jean-Francois Bachelot 6-1, 6-2, 6-3.

The ninth-seeded Safin saved four set points in the second-set tiebreaker on his way to beating Belgium's Christophe Rochus 6-2, 7-6 (6), 6-1.

The 21-year-old Russian is in the most difficult section, along with Sampras, who is vying for a 14th Grand Slam title, No. 13 Andy Roddick and Nicolas Escude.

"We have a tough part of the draw -- Roddick, Sampras ... it's difficult," Safin said. "But I'm ready to make good results here -- this is a good chance for me."

Safin, who dropped from No. 2 in 2000 to No. 11 last year, said he wanted to make amends for a "disastrous" last 12 months, when he struggled with back problems and picked up two ATP titles.

Despite missing out on the top 10 last year, Safin made the quarterfinals at Wimbledon before losing to eventual champion Goran Ivanisevic. He lost to Sampras in the semifinals at the U.S. Open.

Clement, who had beaten Gaudio in their two previous meetings, had 62 unforced errors. He immediately broke back after losing his opening serve in the fourth set, but played a poor final tiebreaker.

Gaudio received treatment for his upper left leg after the final set's 10th game but didn't fade.

Andre Agassi, who beat Clement in last year's final, dropped out before this year's start with a wrist injury.