TOKYO -- Top-seeded Rainer Schuettler of Germany advanced to the third round at the Japan Open, beating Japan's Satoshi Iwabuchi 6-0, 6-4 on Tuesday.

Schuettler, ranked No. 8 in the world, lost to Andre Agassi in the final of the Australian Open in January.

Eighth-seeded Jan-Michael Gambill also advanced at Ariake Colosseum, beating Bohdan Ulihrach of the Czech Republic 6-3, 6-4. Sixth-seeded Nicolas Kiefer of Germany and seventh-seeded Lee Hyung-taik of South Korea also won second-round matches.

Two seeded players were eliminated as 12th-seeded Dutchman John Van Lottum fell 6-2, 6-3 to Michel Kratochvil of Switzerland and No. 16 Gregory Carraz of France lost to Dennis Van Scheppingen of the Netherlands, 7-5, 1-6, 7-5.

American Justin Gimelstob lost a first-round match to France's Cyril Saulnier 7-6 (5), 3-6, 6-1.

U.S. Open champion Andy Roddick would have been the No. 1 seed, but he withdrew last week because of a hamstring injury.

In women's play, 16-year-old Russian Maria Sharapova, seeded fifth, advanced to the second round with a 6-2, 6-0 victory over South Korea's Kim Jin-hee.

In other women's first-round action, defending champion Jill Craybas knocked off Japan's Saori Obata 6-4, 6-2; Japan's Yuka Yoshida beat Angelique Widjaja of Indonesia 6-4, 7-5; and fourth-seeded Shinobu Asagoe of Japan routed China's Li Ting 6-1, 6-1.

Third-seeded Katarina Srebotnik of Slovakia and eighth-seeded Swiss player Emmanuelle Gagliardi also advanced.