The former men's winner Andre Agassi and defending women's champion Jennifer Capriati both moved into the third round of the French Open yesterday while Britain's Tim Henman's latest attempt to conquer the clay of Roland Garros bit the dust.

Agassi was leading Spain's David Sanchez 4-6, 6-2, 6-1 when his opponent was forced to retire with a badly blistered foot while Capriati also moved on with a 6-4, 6-3 win against fellow American Amy Frazier.

Agassi, one of only five men to have won all four Grand Slam events, will now meet either Tommy Robredo of Spain or Oleg Ogorodov of Uzbekistan in the next round.

"Three sets is not a full test, but I felt today that I was in a better position than my opponent," said Agassi. "It all got better as the match went on and that's a good sign for the rest of the tournament."

Meanwhile, top-seed Capriati struggled with her serve but still kept her French Open dream alive by moving into the third round.

The world number one took 69 minutes to see off Frazier 6-4, 6-3, and keep her record of never having been beaten by her fellow American in their four meetings.

Capriati had difficulty with her serve throughout the match, dropping serve six times with 46 unforced errors and seven double faults. But she looked unworried against 29-year-old Frazier, ranked 61 in the world.

"It was making me a little bit mad that I couldn't hold my serve," admitted Capriati. "She's a great returner, but it was going back and forth in the first set. I think it was the conditions. It was hard to get a rhythm."

The top seed was the favourite going into the tie as defending champion and having reached the quarter-finals twice and the semi-finals once in her nine appearances here.

Capriati, who defended her Australian Open title in January, next meets Evie Dominikovic, after the 109-ranked Australian saw off the challenge of 101-ranked Indonesian Angelique Widjaja 7-6 (7/4), 6-4.

But while Agassi and Capriati were all smiles, it was a different story for Henman out on Suzanne Lenglen Court where he lost for the second time against Belgian Xavier Malisse to record his worst result here since 1998 when he lost in the first round.

He went one round better this time, but the number six seed still looked completely out of his depth on the slow, red clay as he went down to a 6-2, 3-6, 7-6 (7/4), 6-3 defeat after a three-hour, three-minute struggle.

Henman (27) who had been confident of progressing into the second week here, must be sick of the sight of Malisse having lost to him at the US Open last year when the Belgian was being coached by Henman's former mentor David Felgate.

"It was tough out there and it's very disappointing to lose," said Henman whose game fell apart in the final set when he lost his serve four times to go from 2-0 to 3-6.

"Playing on clay is all about building up momentum and carrying that through."

Third-seed German Tommy Haas, whose participation had been in doubt because of a shoulder injury, saw off Spain's Feliciano Lopez 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 while 10th-seed Frenchman Sebastien Grosjean kept home hopes alive with a 6-4, 3-6, 6-2, 7-5 over America's James Blake.

Spain's Juan Carlos Ferrero, the 11th seed, who was a doubt for his match against France's Nicolas Coutelot because of an ankle injury, played and won 6-2, 5-7, 1-6, 6-2, 6-0 much to the irritation of his opponent.

"It wasn't true that he was injured, just look at the way he played today. It was a lie - it's like saying bin Laden is dead, it's not true," said the Frenchman.

Jelena Dokic, the seventh seed from Yugoslavia, defeated Spanish veteran Conchita Martinez 3-6, 7-6 (9/7), 6-2 to set up a clash in the next round against Elena Likhovtseva of Russia.

"I had won the last four matches I had played against her but she is always difficult to face on clay," said Dokic who suffered a shock defeat at the hands of Hungarian qualifier Petra Mandula here last year just after picking up her first career title in Rome.

"I had a real let-down here last year. The draw had opened up and I looked too far ahead and lost my concentration.

"But I think I have improved over the last year or so and I want to keep it going."

Defending French Open champion Gustavo Kuerten of Brazil has not only won the hearts of the crowd at Roland Garros but been awarded the annual Orange Prize for his fair play on the circuit by the French press.

Australian star Lleyton Hewitt had to settle for the Lemon Award given to the most uncooperative player. He succeeds record-holder former world number one Marcelo Rios of Chile, who is missing Roland Garros this year with a knee injury.

Fifteen-year-old French player Richard Gasquet, who was knocked out in the first round, received the Bud Prize, as the revelation of the year.

Hewitt will open play on Centre Court this morning against Holland's Sjeng Schalken

And later, Chile's Fernando Gonzalez will take on Kuerten.

In the women's, Monica Seles will take on Slovakia's Ludmila Cervanova and Clarisa Fernandez of Argentina will attempt to stop fourth-seed Kim Clijsters.