The two American favourites in the year's final Slam advanced with ease here on a Tuesday that also saw Michael Chang retire and Brazil's Gustavo Kuerten ousted after worrying about his safety from an angry spectator.

Fourth seed Roddick, who turns 21 Saturday, stretched his win streak to 13 matches by blasting British number one Henman 6-3, 7-6 (7/2), 6-3. Henman beat Roddick in a Washington ATP semi-final in July, the only stain on a 20-1 run.

"He's playing better than anyone in the world right now," Henman said. "He's going to be tough to beat. He's so confident right now. He has such a big game but he is using it so well now. That's the big difference."

Roddick, a semifinalist at Wimbledon and the Australian Open, won titles at Montreal, Cincinnati and Indianapolis. His joyful reaction after the final point was more emotion than some title winners display.

"I went into this match knowing I could be going home afterward," Roddick said. "I would be very disappointed to come here so well and go home early. I was taking this match very seriously. He was the only dark spot in my summer."

Agassi, the oldest player here at 33, snapped a three-match losing streak to Corretja by 6-1, 6-2, 6-2. Agassi had not beaten him since a 1998 Key Biscayne ATP semifinal.

"It was definitely a great day," Agassi said. "I felt great about the way I played, the way I hit the ball, the way I was moving, the way I played the big points. A lot of crucial points could have made that match closer."

Agassi, who next plays Swede Andreas Vinciguerra, won his first four matches with Corretja but lost at the 1998 ATP Finals as well as in ATP title matches in 1998 at Indianapolis and 2000 at Washington.

"I wanted to make sure I felt comfortable with my shots and staying within my game," Agassi said. "You have to come out here and prove yourself the best every day. I got through it."

Russia's Dmitry Tursunov outlasted three-time French Open champion Kuerten 5-7, 6-2, 6-2, 4-6, 7-6 (7/1). Brazil's "Guga" had security eject a spectator in the tense final set after the man's taunts turned ugly.

"If the guy is just clapping, it's OK, but once he starts talking to you in a bad way, you start to be scared and you don't feel comfortable with that guy playing so close to you," Kuerten said, adding that he was not threatened.

"Luckily not. It would have been the next step."

Nothing less than a win would have sated Roddick, who has found top form under new coach Brad Gilbert. Agassi's former mentor advised more variety and that's just what Roddick gave Henman.

"In Washington I made the mistake of giving him one pace," Roddick said. "I just mixed it up a little bit more. Maybe it was just execution."

Henman's only prior first-round exit here came in 1999. He reached the third round each of the past three years.

"He served very well," Henman said. "When you have a weapon like that and back it up with a strong forehand, it's a tough combination to beat.

"I needed to make something out of the second set and I wasn't able to. I felt my game was close to making life awkward for him. At one set all it's anyone's match. At 2-0, Andy's confidence is going only in one direction."

On the women's side, sixth seed Jennifer Capriati beat Spain's 105th-ranked Cristina Torrens Valero 6-0, 6-1 in 35 minutes.

"It was a pretty easy match," Capriati said. "I just wasn't challenged."

French Open winner Justine Henin-Hardenne, the second seed from Belgium, shook off fatigue and back pain to beat Hungary's Aniko Kapros 7-5, 6-3.

"There's a burning in my lower back," she said. "It's not disturbing me when I'm playing but when I'm on a chair or in the bed it's a problem. Last night it was very bad. I slept only three or four hours. I was very tired."

Henin-Hardenne has lost in the fourth round here the past three years but is playing well. "I'm feeling much more confident right now and you can see it in my serve," she said. "I served good on the important points."

Japan's Ai Sugiyama, seeded 11th, breezed past Spain's Conchita Granados 6-1, 6-0 in 44 minutes while Japan's 55th-ranked Shinobu Asagoe ousted 10th seed Magdalena Maleeva of Bulgaria 6-4, 6-3.

"I saw she was not moving quite well and I took advantage of that," said Asagoe, who ousted ninth-ranked Daniela Hantuchova out of Wimbledon in June.