Tim Henman scored one of the biggest wins of his season yesterday by thrashing clay-court specialist and world number 27 Fabrice Santoro at the Italian Open in Rome.
But Greg Rusedski's nightmare on his least favourite surface continued when he bowed out in straight sets to Czech Bohdan Ulihrach.
Henman cruised to a 6-1 6-0 victory against the Frenchman, who had recently annihilated world number one Pete Sampras in Monte Carlo.
His next round promises to be more of a challenge with a likely match against third seed Marcelo Rios, who must first beat Italian qualifier Marzio Martelli.
Rusedski's struggles on clay failed to disappear when he lost in straight sets to Ulihrach. The Czech triumphed 7-5 7-6 (10-8) to leave Rusedski with only one claycourt victory all season.
The defeat, further confirmation of Rusedski's inability to play well on on clay, does not bode well for his chances at the French Open which begins in a fortnight.
Meanwhile, Belgian French Open semi-finalist Filip Dewulf knocked out seventh-seeded Swede Jonas Bjorkman 6-2 6-3 while Spain's Francisco Clavet beat Yugoslav qualifier Dusan Vemic 6-2 6-4.
Dutch 11th seed Richard Krajicek came though to oust Australian Mark Philippoussis 5-7 7-6 (7-4) 6-1.
Two-time Rome champion Thomas Muster crushed Marcelo Filippini of Uruguay 6-1 6-0, while American Todd Martin staged a rally to get past Spaniard Alberto Portas, winning 5-7 7-6 (7-2) 6-4.
