MELBOURNE, Australia -- With nine men's seeds already failing to reach the third round at the Australian Open, defending champion Yevgeny Kafelnikov of Russia made sure he did not join that list.

Kafelnikov, the second seed, showed no effects of the back and groin injuries that hampered him in the first round as he crushed former doubles partner Daniel Vacek of the Czech Republic, 6-3, 6-0, 6-1, Thursday.

	Tommy Haas was furious with himself during his loss to Younes El Aynaoui on Thursday. Haas, the 10th seed, fell 7-5, 6-3, 6-3.

The hottest player in men's tennis, 18-year-old Australian Lleyton Hewitt, came close to recording the first triple-bagel in Australian Open history when he beat Alex Corretja 6-0, 6-0, 6-1. Hewitt won his 12th straight match, extending a run that has included titles in Adelaide and Sydney.

The last three-set shutout was posted at the 1993 French Open by Sergi Bruguera over Thierry Champion. Only five triple-bagels have been recorded in the open era since 1968.

"If I had known, maybe I would have loved to be in the history," Corretja joked about his brush with being the first triple-bagel loser in tournament history.

"When you are playing the worst match of your life, it's better to laugh," said the 1998 French Open runner-up, who ended last year ranked 26th, four spots behind Hewitt.

At the same time, he said, "it is clear Hewitt is playing great, he is motivated. ... Especially in this part of the draw I think he has a good chance to go far."

Kafelnikov needed only 83 minutes to advance to the third round. He won 94 points to Vacek's 60 and was helped by his opponent's 54 unforced errors.

The Russian injured his back at an exhibition event last week and tried to compensate but suffered a groin injury early in his first-round match.

No. 4 Nicolas Kiefer and No. 12 Magnus Norman also won, but two of last year's men's semifinalists were knocked out as seventh seed Nicolas Lapentti of Ecuador retired due to weakness from a cold in the fourth set of his match with Arnaud Clement of France. Clement was leading, 3-6, 7-6 (7-3), 6-2, 4-1.

Tenth seed Tommy Haas of Germany was upended by Younes El Aynaoui of Morocco, 7-5, 6-3, 6-3. Haas claimed a rib injury hampered him his loss Thursday.

Goran Ivanisevic, a three-time Wimbledon runner-up expected to take advantage of the fast courts with his big serve, fumbled with his returns and fell 7-6 (5), 6-4, 6-2 to France's Francisco Clavet.

"I was completely blocked," said Ivanisevic, who had beaten Clavet in their five previous meetings. "I hit five mis-hit returns on his second serve in the tiebreaker. I can't explain. I couldn't control my legs."

Ivanisevic said he's thinking of retirement at the end of the year unless he can find a way to pull himself out of the worst slump of his career.

"I'm going to see after this year (about retiring) but I hope not," he told Reuters. "I hope I can get over this ... but there is a long time to go before I make any decision."

No. 1 Andre Agassi and No. 3 Pete Sampras are in the other half of the draw and are scheduled to play third-round matches on Friday.

"I know Kafelnikov is lurking around," said Hewitt, who added that he is not looking past his next opponent, 98th-ranked Adrian Voinea of Romania. Hewitt beat Kafelnikov in a Davis Cup meeting last September.

Still, Hewitt said, "it's hard to be feeling any better or any more self-confident out there on the court."

At the end today, he told Corretja, "Bad luck, mate."

"I wouldn't like to be in that situation. I think anyone could imagine on center court against a guy playing in front of a home crowd, it's probably a little embarrassing," Hewitt said later.

In his tournament victories earlier this year, Hewitt beat 1999 Australian Open runner-up Thomas Enqvist in the Adelaide final and defeated Corretja 6-4, 6-4 in the Sydney semifinal.

Also advancing to the third round were No. 4 Nicolas Kiefer, a 7-6 (5), 6-0, 6-2 winner over fellow German Tomas Behrend, and No. 12 Magnus Norman, who beat Italy's Gianluca Pozzi 6-4, 6-3, 6-4.