Sweden's Thomas Johansson used a patient attack to
wear down injured second seed Marat Safin of Russia 7-5 7-5 in a Tuesday session that saw four seeds knocked out in the first round of the Tennis Master Series Indian Wells tournament.
Hampered by a back injury he sustained while playing two weeks ago in Dubai, Safin could barely lift his racket over his head.
Also crashing out were fifth-seeded Swede Magnus Norman, 15th-seeded Australian Mark Philippoussis and 14th seed Dominik Hrbaty of Slovakia.
Seven other seeds, led by number one Gustavo Kuerten, cleared the first-round hurdle on Tuesday.
Joining the Brazilian French Open champion in the second round were Lleyton Hewitt, Yevgeny Kafelnikov, Thomas Enqvist, Tim Henman, Patrick Rafter, Sebastien Grosjean.
World number one Martina Hingis breezed past Silvia Farina Elia to advance to a semi-final clash with Kim Clijsters of Belgium, who enjoyed a smooth victory over Russian wildcard recipient Elena Bovina.