Ruud, without a tournament win in seven years as a professional, ambushed the World Number Three 3-6 6-3 6-4 6-4 in the second round on a windy outside court.

The loss of Corretja means the first Grand Slam tournament of 1999 has lost the top three men in the world. Australian fourth seed Pat Rafter, the US Open champion, and Tim Henman are left to lead the charge in a tournament billed as the `most open open in years.'

Sixth seed Henman almost suffered the same fate as Corretja against Australian Sandon Stolle, a player best known for his father Fred than for his own prowess. Corretja's loss was another blow for Spain, which sent an armada of players to Melbourne and saw 10 of its best sink without trace on Tuesday. ``It was not that bad (for Spain) ...It was terrible,'' Corretja said.

Switzerland's Patty Schnyder became the highest rankedwoman to be knocked out of the tournament when the eighth seed was upset 6-7 (1-7) 6-4 6-3 by Frenchwoman Amelie Mauresmo.

`Weird' therapy: No 1 Lindsay Davenport says experimental magnetic therapy between seasons has helped cure a nagging elbow injury and boosted her bid for back-to-back Grand Slam titles.

The American scored her second straight-sets victory at the Australian Open today, beating Argentina's Florencia Labat 6-2 6-1 to breeze into the third round on a day when others were getting knocked around by blustery winds.

Before she came to Australia to prepare for the Open, Lindsay's mother drove her to see a therapist, who placed her joint under a magnet for 5 and 1/2 hours. ``I swear I did this magnet therapy, it's so embarrassing, but I put my arm under this magnet and it has not hurt me one bit since,'' Davenport said. ``I don't know what happened but for three weeks in Australia it's been great and hasn't hurt once.

``People believe in weird stuff. I don't, but it worked and I'm justgoing with it.''

How the seeds fared

Prefix denotes seeding
Men singles (2nd round): Christian Ruud (Norway) bt 2-Alex Corretja (Spain) 3-6 6-3 6-4 6-4; 3-Pat Rafter (Aus) bt Mark Woodforde (Aus) 6-2 6-4 6-4; 6-Tim Henman (Brit) bt Sandon Stolle (Aus) 4-6 7-5 4-6 6-1 6-4; 7-Karol Kucera (Slovakia) bt Davide Sanguinetti (ITaly) 7-5 6-1 6-4; 9-Richard Krajicek (Neth) bt Mariano Zabaleta (Arg) 6-3 6-2 7-5; 14-Mark Philippoussis (Aus) bt Michael Chang (US) 7-6 (7-1) 2-6 6-3 5-7 7-5.

Women singles (2nd round): 1-Lindsay Davenport (US) bt Florencia Labat (Arg) 6-2 6-1; 3-Jana Novotna (Czech) bt Henrieta Nagyova (Slovak) 6-4 2-6 6-3; 5-Venus Williams (US) bt Asa Carlsson (Sweden) 6-2 6-1; Amelie Mauresmo (France) bt 8-Patty Schnyder (Swiss) 6-7 (1-7) 6-4 6-3; 9-Conchita Martinez (Spain) bt Brie Rippner (US) 6-0 6-4; 11-Dominique Van Roost (Belg) bt Seda Noorlander (Neth) 7-6 (8-6) 6-0; 15-Natasha Zvereva (Belarus) bt Meilen Tu (US) 6-3 7-5

Other results

Men singles:Nicolas Lapentti (Ecu) bt Magnus Norman (Swed) 7-6 (7-4) 3-6 2-6 6-3 6-4; Thomas Enqvist (Swed) bt Byron Black (Zimbabwe) 7-6 (8-6) 7-6 (7-2) 6-0; Bohdan Ulihrach (Czech Republic) beat Andrei Cherkasov (Russia) 7-6 (7-5) 4-6 6-7 (3-7) 6-4 6-4; Wayne Ferreira (SA) bt Daniel Vacek (Czech) 6-4 2-6 6-3 6-1; Mikael Tillstrom (Swed) bt Justin Gimelstob (US) 6-3 6-4 6-1; Jeff Tarango (US) bt Paul Haarhuis (Neth) 6-1 3-6 4-6 6-4 6-0; Andrew Ilie (Aus) bt Jerome Golmard (France) 4-6 7-6 (7-3) 6-4 6-4; Marc Rosset (Swiss) bt Jens Knippschild (Germ) 6-7 (7-9) 7-6 (7-2) 6-1 6-3; Marat Safin (Russia) bt Gustavo Kuerten (Braz) 6-3 5-7 4-6 6-3 6-4; Jan Kroslak (Slovak) bt Mariano Puerta (Arg) 3-6 4-6 7-6 (7-4) 6-4 6-1.

Women singles: Sylvia Plischke (Aut) bt Anke Huber (Germ) 6-7 (7-9) 6-3 7-5; Maria Antonia Sanchez Lorenzo (Spain) bt Jennifer Capriati (US) 7-6 (7-2) 6-2; Jana Nejedly (Canada) beat Catalina Cristea (Romania) 5-7 6-3 6-1; Ruxandra Dragomir (Roma) bt Jane Chi (US) 6-1 6-2.