Rusedski dispatches Roux in straight sets

Greg Rusedski cruised into the third round of the RCA Championships in Indianapolis with a straight-sets victory over qualifier Lionel Roux last night.

The British No 2 and 14th seed broke the Frenchman's opening service game and comfortably held his own service games to take the first set 6-3.

Rusedski, who had seen his match delayed by rain, just beat the weather taking the second set 6-2 before play was again halted. He now faces a possible clash with Lleyton Hewitt in the third round, if the world No 1 can overcome Alberto Martin in his second-round tie.

The third seed, Tommy Haas, advanced to the third round with a 7-6, 6-3 victory over Magnus Norman. Haas fired 11 aces and was never broken, the only break coming in the eighth game of the second set when the German broke at 30-40. He closed out the match with back-to-back aces.

Taylor Dent reached the second round after a 6-4, 7-6 win against a qualifier, Glenn Weiner, of the United States. Dent, the only American to reach the second round in Indianapolis, faced a set point at 5-6 in the second set and was 5-4 behind in the tie-break before winning the final three points.

The second seed, Marat Safin, who has been unwell since Sunday, has withdrawn from the Indianapolis tournament with an upper respiratory viral infection.

"I've been in bed and have not been able to do anything the last couple of days. I have some medicine and hope to get better in the next few days," said the Russian.

The 22-year-old Australian Open runner-up was replaced in the draw by the lucky loser Arnaud DiPasquale of France.

Andre Agassi, the No 1 seed, advanced to the third round of the Legg Mason Classic in Washington with a 6-2, 6-2 win over Israel's Noam Okun late on Tuesday.

"I didn't know too much about Okun, so it takes a little while to get the rhythm going," Agassi said. "I returned really well and he missed quite a few first serves which gave me a lot of opportunities on his second serve."