TENNIS/US Open: Olympic gold medallist and defending US Open champion Justine Henin-Hardenne scrambled into the third round after an unconvincing 6-2, 5-7, 6-2 victory over Israeli Tzipora Obziler in the US Open at Flushing Meadows yesterday, and later admitted that she was feeling the effects of her efforts in Athens.

The top-seeded Belgian was completely out of sorts in her match, losing her serve seven times and making 47 unforced errors against the world number 133 but survived to set up a match with American Lisa Raymond or Russian Maria Kirilenko.

It looked like business as usual for Henin-Hardenne as she cruised through the first set.

But as the match wore on, the 31-year-old Obziler, playing only her second grand slam event after almost quitting the sport following two years off with a shoulder injury, forced her opponent into a series of errors.

The Belgian served for the match at 5-4 in the second set but Obziler showed great resilience to take the next three games and level the match.

An epic fourth game of the final set eventually proved decisive as Henin-Hardenne held on to advance.

"I can see that most of the players who played well at the Olympics have had many problems at the beginning of the tournament," said the Belgian top seed afterwards.

"I can tell you that it's not easy coming from Athens: really tough conditions, a big tournament, the Olympics. It's a different kind of experience," she said.

"And then a week later you are again in a grand slam. There's a lot of pressure.

"It was a big surprise for me that I won the Olympics. But it took a lot of energy the last weekend in Athens.

"I didn't sleep enough. It's going to be a big test for me but you can't be at your best all the time."

Meanwhile, both the men's and women's French Open champions were dumped out of the tournament at the second hurdle yesterday, with Russia's Anastasia Myskina sent packing 7-6, 6-3 in round two by Russian qualifier Anna Chakvetadze and Argentina's Gaston Gaudio dismissed in four sets by Swede Thomas Johansson.

Fourth-seeded Myskina, who became the first Russian woman to win a grand slam title when she triumphed at Roland Garros in June, made 37 unforced errors as she slumped out in 74 minutes.

Chakvetadze served warning of her talent with victory over Austrian Barbara Schett in round one and showed no nerves as she dismantled Myskina's game.

After snatching the first set 7-3 in the tiebreak, Chakvetadze won three of the last four games to clinch the biggest victory of her career. Chakvetadze will face either Greek Eleni Daniilidou or Anabel Medina Garrigues of Spain in the third round.

Gaudio became the highest men's seed to exit the US Open.

In a match containing nine service breaks, the ninth-seeded Argentine struggled to cope with the pace of the surface as Johansson held on to win in two hours, 31 minutes.

Johansson, who missed the event in 2002 and 2003 through injury, was in charge from the start as he raced through the first set.

Attempting to reach the third round for only the second time in six visits, Gaudio showed his fighting qualities to level the match. But Johansson hit back to win the third set on his eighth set point.

The Swede then broke serve in the fifth game of the fourth set, prompting Gaudio to rip his shorts apart in disgust, and Johansson held his nerve to serve out for victory.

Johansson will play either 19th seed Nicolas Kiefer of Germany or Cyril Saulnier of France in round three.

Andre Agassi moved into the third round when Florian Mayer retired with an injury in the fourth set of their match yesterday.

The sixth-seeded American was leading 7-5, 2-6, 6-2, 1-0 when his German opponent quit with what looked to be a thigh problem.

"He said he couldn't go on any more," said Agassi, who clinched his 69th US Open triumph.

"The same thing happened to him a few months ago and it put him out for a while."

After taking a tight first set, Agassi was given a scare when Mayer took the second set thanks to a series of winners, particularly on the backhand side.

Agassi, however, regained control to win the third set before Mayer called it day.

Britain's Tim Henman also made it thtough to the third round with a 6-2, 6-4, 4-6, 6-7 win over France's Jerome Golmard.

Lindsay Davenport extended her unbeaten streak to 19 matches with a 6-4, 6-2 second-round win over Spaniard Arantxa Parra Santonja.