TENNIS:Justine Henin made a belated start to her build-up for next week's Australian Open by thumping Estonia's Kaia Kanepi 6-2, 6-0 at the Sydney International yesterday.

The Belgian world number one's first match of the year had been delayed after she received a first-round bye and then a walkover in the second round but she made up for lost time with a superb performance.

"That was a good start," Henin said. "It's never easy the first match of the season because you have to forget about the last season and really get focused on now."

She had won the Sydney International on her last two visits to the Olympic tennis centre and went on to make the Australian Open final both times but may have her work cut out after three of the top four seeds reached the semi-finals.

Henin's next opponent will be Serbia's Ana Ivanovic, who beat Katarina Srebotnik of Slovenia 6-3, 3-6, 6-2, while Svetlana Kuznetsova is lurking on the other side.

Kuznetsova, the Russian world number two, beat Francesca Schiavone 6-4, 6-0 to join Nicole Vaidisova in the semi-finals after the Czech upset third-seeded Serbian Jelena Jankovic 6-4, 4-6, 6-4.

"I've had a good preparation and I'm really happy that I managed to win a couple matches and slowly get into it," Ivanovic said. "It definitely gave me some confidence and going into the Australian Open I definitely feel much better."

While the women's results mostly went according to script, the men's draw has been decimated, with just one seeded player making the quarter-finals.

Czech Tomas Berdych was the only seed to survive by beating Gilles Simon of France 7-6, 6-2, while Richard Gasquet, Carlos Moya, Lleyton Hewitt and Fernando Verdasco all lost.

Top-seed Gasquet was beaten 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 by Russian Dmitry Tursunov, Moya fell to Agustin Calleri of Argentina 6-3, 6-4 and Sebastian Grosjean of France beat Spain's Verdasco 6-3, 6-4.

However, the biggest surprise was Hewitt's 7-6, 7-6 loss to his Australian Davis Cup team-mate Chris Guccione, who needed a wild card to get into the tournament.

Hewitt was chasing a record fifth Sydney title but came unstuck against the lanky left-hander ranked 104 places below him.

"He's a dangerous player to play against," Hewitt said.

"He's got one of the best serves in the game, there's no doubt about that, and I think he moves well at the net as well."

Guccione said beating Hewitt was one of the highlights of his career.

"To beat him here in Sydney, where he's won it so many times, yeah, it's pretty high on the scale," he said.

In Melbourne, American Andy Roddick produced his customary fast start to the year yesterday, crushing Ivan Ljubicic on the opening day of the Kooyong Classic in a warm-up event for next week's Australian Open.

The world number six, who has won the title at Kooyong in each of the past two years, was totally dominant as he raced to a 6-3, 6-0 victory over the Croatian.

Former world number one Marat Safin, Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus and Chilean Fernando Gonzalez also won on day one of the eight-man exhibition event yesterday.

But it was the display of Roddick, in his first match since helping the United States to Davis Cup victory a month ago, that caught the eye.

"I was pretty happy with how I hit the ball today," Roddick said. "I was consistent, I returned pretty well, and I thought I managed the match pretty well. I didn't make any stupid errors, and that's key."

Roddick beat world number one Roger Federer to win the title last year at Kooyong, the Melbourne suburb that staged the Australian Open until 1988.

"I think traditionally a lot of the players who have played here have done well in the Aussie Open," said Roddick.

"I have played pretty consistently throughout the year, so there's nothing wrong with playing three matches against guys in the top 20 before a big event. It's ideal."

Roddick will now play Safin for a place in the final after the Russian impressed in a 6-1, 6-4 win over Britains' Andy Murray, who won the title in Doha last weekend.

In Hobart, second seed Vera Zvonareva advanced to the semi-finals of the Hobart International with a 6-3, 6-3 victory over Russian compatriot Elena Vesnina. Zvonareva is the only seeded player remaining in the draw after sixth seed Sania Mirza of India was beaten 7-5, 1-6, 6-3 by Italy's Flavia Pennetta in an error-strewn quarter-final.

Ashley Harkleroad of the US also booked a place in the semi-finals against Zvonareva with a 6-4, 6-4 victory over fellow qualifier Edina Gallovits of Romania.

Greece's Eleni Daniilidou completed the semi-final line-up with a 6-4, 7-5 win over Australia's Casey Dellacqua and she will now face Pennetta for a place in the final.

In Wellington, David Ferrer showed his determination to retain the Auckland Open title by winning both his first and second round matches.

Forced to play two games because rain on Tuesday allowed just three matches to be played, the world number five easily accounted for Spanish compatriot Oscar Hernandez 6-1, 6-2 before beating Argentine Sergio Roitman 6-1, 7-6.

"I served very well and I'm happy with my game," Ferrer said. "I'm pleased I won two matches. The results make it look easy, but not the games."