But the combined will of the Centre Court crowd was not enough to spur one of their favourite sons to victory and he went out 4-6 6-1 7-6 6-4. The Las Vegas showman was joined in the doldrums by French Open champion Carlos Moya who tumbled to another claycourt specialist in Hicham Arazi of Morocco.

The fifth-seeded Spaniard, who won his first Grand Slam title in Paris last month, became the second big seed to exit the tournament after Chile's Marcelo Rios, losing 4-6 6-4 6-3 6-4 in just over two hours.

The American was furious over a crucial line call that helped Haas win the third set when play was stopped last evening. A forehand by Haas was ruled good, even though replays showed itwas clearly out. Agassi stabbed the spot where he saw the ball land, then approached chair umpire John Frame.

Frame shook his head and the call stood, giving Haas a 6-3 lead in the tie-breaker. Agassi saved one set point, but succumbed on the next to fall behind 4-6, 6-1, 7-6 (7-4).

In a sign of how wide open the men's field is, four seeds went out yesterday No 2 Rios, No 4 Greg Rusedski, No 8 Cedric Pioline and No 15 Karol Kucera and today No 5 Moya and No 13 Agassi joined the casualty list. No 7 Yevgeny Kafelnikov and No 10 Alex Corretja had been ousted earlier.

In the women's singles, defending champion Martina Hingis survived a scare against lowly-ranked Russian Elena Makarova.

Hingis, the world number one, was staring at an uphill battle when the 79th-ranked Makarova served for the first set but the Swiss teenager recovered to take the match 7-6 6-4.

Third seed Jana Novotna overcame a shaky patch on court two to move past Russian Tatiana Panova in three sets 6-3 4-6 6-1.

Jennifer Capriati'sreturn to the All England Club after five-year absence came to an end when she threw away a one-set lead to go out 4-6 6-4 6-2 to Lori McNeil who, at 34, is the oldest woman in the draw.

In late night matches on Wednesday, last year's finalist Pioline, the eighth seed, battled gallantly before surrendering to Switzerland's Marc Rosset 13-11 in a fifth set which dragged on for 78 minutes.

HOW THE SEEDS FARED

(Seedings in prefix) Men's singles (2nd round): Hicham Arazi (Moro) bt 5-Carlos Moya (Spain) 4-6 6-4 6-3 6-4. Tommy Haas (Ger) bt 13-Andre Agassi (US) 4-6 6-1 7-6 6-4.
1st round: 6-Patrick Rafter (Aust) bt Ivo Heuberger (Swit) 6-1 6-2 4-6 6-1
Women's singles (2nd round): 1-Martina Hingis (Swit) bt Elena Makarova (Rus) 7-6 (7-2) 6-4, 2-Lindsay Davenport (US) bt Larisa Neiland (Latvia) 6-1 7-5, 3-Jana Novotna (Czech Rep) bt Tatiana Panova (Russia) 6-3 4-6 6-1, Naoko Sawamatsu (Jap) bt 9-Amanda Coetzer (SA) 3-6 6-3 6-2 14-Sandrine Testud (Fra) bt Seda Noorlander (Neth)6-3 6-1, 15-Dominique Van Roost (Bel) bt Anne Miller (US) 6-1 6-1
Men's singles (2nd round): Byron Black (Zim) bt Jan-Michael Gambill (US) 7-5 6-4 7-5. 1st round: Magnus Larsson (Swe) bt Marcelo Filippini (Uru) 7-5 6-1 6-4, Sargis Sargsian (Arm) bt Albert Portas (Spa) 6-0 7-5 6-2, Nicolas Kiefer (Ger) bt Julian Alonso (Spa) 6-2 6-2 6-3, Todd Woodbridge (Aust) bt Galo Blanco (Spa) 6-1 6-2 6-1
Women's singles (2nd round): Lori McNeil (US) bt Jennifer Capriati (US) 4-6 6-4 6-2, Natasha Zvereva (Bela) bt Nana Miyagi (Jap) 6-1 6-3, Miriam Oremans (Neth) bt Asa Carlsson (Swe) 6-2 6-3, Sylvia Plischke (Aut) bt Janet Lee (Tai) 6-2 6-0, Magui Serna (Spa) bt Rita Grande (Ita) 6-4 6-1, Sabine Appelmans (Bel) bt Louise Latimer (GB) 6-1 6-4, Virginia Ruano Pascual (Spa) bt Kimberly Po (US) 6-2 6-4, Yayuk Basuki (Indo) bt Amelie Mauresmo (Fra) 6-3 6-4, Tamarine Tanasugarn (Thai) bt Karen Cross (GB) 6-2 7-5, Corina Morariu (US) bt Patricia Hy-Boulais (Can) 7-5 6-0, Julie Halard-Decugis (Fra) bt AlexiaDechaume-Balleret (Fra) 6-4 7-6 (8-6), Mariaan de Swardt (SA) bt Elena Tatarkova (Ukr) 6-4 7-6 (7-5).
1st round: Jennifer Capriati (US) bt bt Nicole Pratt (Aust) 6-4, 3-6, 6-4, Lori McNeil (US) bt Els Callens (Bel) 2-6, 6-4, 6-4, Shi-Ting Wang (Tai) bt Kristina Brandi (US) 7-6 (7-4) 7-5, Cara Black (Zim) bt Sonya Jeyaseelan (Can) 6-2 6-4, Magdalena Grzybowska (Pol) bt Ruxandra Dragomir (Rom) 6-2 6-4, Elena Makarova (Rus) bt Silvija Talaja (Croa) 6-4 6-2, Miriam Oremans (Neth) bt Elena Wagner (Ger) 2-6 6-3 6-2