MELBOURNE, Australia -- Fresh off a victory in a warm-up tournament, Andre Agassi kept up his winning ways in his opening match at the Australian Open on Monday.

	Paradorn Srichaphan raised his ranking 110 points last season.

Agassi, seeking his third Aussie Open title in four years, overcame Brian Vahaly 7-5, 6-3, 6-3. He broke serve eight times against Vahaly, a former All-American at the University of Virginia.

Paradorn Srichaphan, seeded 11th, opened play on center by beating Austrian Jurgen Melzer 7-5, 6-4, 1-6, 6-0.

"It's really special for me to play the first match on Monday, to open a Grand Slam, and I appreciate it,'' said Paradorn, who won two titles last year and beat Agassi at Wimbledon. Paradorn also beat No. 1 Lleyton Hewitt and No. 3 Marat Safin during the year.

Paradorn warmed up for the Open by winning another tournament earlier this month in India. He bowed Thai-style, with folded hands, to the crowd in Rod Laver Arena after forcing repeated errors by Melzer in the final set and watching a forehand volley by the Austrian sail long on the second match point.

In another Asian victory, South Korean Lee Hyung-taik, fresh from winning a warmup tournament in Sydney, beat Spain's David Ferrer 5-7, 6-2, 6-2, 6-3.

French Open champion Albert Costa needed more than three hours for a 6-4, 6-1, 3-6, 7-6 (5) victory over German qualifier David Prinosil.

Costa, seeded eighth, reached the top 10 for the first time last year despite skipping Wimbledon to concentrate on his new marriage. He wed longtime girlfriend Cristina Ventura five days after winning at Roland Garros.

No. 5 Carlos Moya defeated Belgian Dick Norman 7-5, 6-3, 6-4, No. 12 Sebastien Grosjean, a semifinalist in 2001, beat Fernando Meligeni 6-4, 6-2, 6-3, and No. 14 Guillermo Canas beat Vladimir Voltchkov of Belarus 6-3, 7-5, 6-3.

Wayne Ferreira, playing in his 50th Grand Slam tournament, ousted No. 26 Tommy Robredo 5-7, 6-0, 6-3, 6-4.

Agassi has improved from last year just by starting the Australian Open.

He hurt his right wrist while losing the Kooyong Classic exhibition final last year against Pete Sampras two days before the Open's start, losing a chance to win the tournament three years in a row.

Nevertheless, he went right back to Kooyong this year. He won the Australian Open after winning at Kooyong in 2000 and 2001, and he won at Kooyong again Saturday, beating Grosjean 6-2, 6-3 in the final.

"This week I felt real good, a lot better a lot sooner than I was even hoping,'' said the 32-year-old American, oldest among the seeded men in the tournament.

Defending champion Thomas Johansson is out with a knee injury. Also among the missing are No. 9-ranked Tim Henman and fellow Briton Greg Rusedski; No. 11 Tommy Haas; and Chile's Marcelo Rios, runner-up in 1998.