Agassi's brute force brings Lee crashing back to earth

Lee Hyung-Taik was floating on air last weekend after upsetting Juan-Carlos Ferrero in the final of the Sydney International. Yesterday the talented South Korean crashed back down to earth as Andre Agassi inflicted a brutal 6-1, 6-0, 6-0 defeat in the second round here at Melbourne Park.

Agassi, three times Australian Open champion, was on devastating form. One game and 0-40 down at the start of the match, he saved the break points and went on to win 18 consecutive games. "It was like hitting against a wall," said a shell shocked Lee. "I've played him twice before, but it was totally different today. What can you do when Agassi plays that perfect game?"

It was the easiest grand slam win ever for the No 2 seed, whose dropped two games in the second round of last year's US Open. So comprehensively was Lee outclassed that the small contingent of South Korean fans was left cheering his game points; there were just two in the second set and two in the third. "I think everybody in the tournament should watch out for Agassi," said Lee, No 67 in the world.

The Las Vegan was gracious in victory. "When you play a guy of Lee's quality, playing as well as he's been playing, to have a scoreline like that doesn't happen too often," he said. "He came off to an incredible start. I felt an immediate sense of urgency, got a little momentum and never looked back."

Agassi received a second boost later in the day, when Spain's fifth-seeded Carlos Moya – one of his main obstacles en route to the final – was beaten by a virtually unknown American, Mardy Fish. Moya, a former world No 1 and the 1998 French Open champion, is the highest-ranked casualty so far in the men's draw.

The Lee-Agassi encounter lasted just 1hr 20min, forcing tournament officials to move a doubles match from Court Eight to the Rod Laver Arena in order to give the crowd their money's worth. The American hit the ball so hard and so early that the 27-year-old Lee was completely flummoxed; he won only seven points in the first set, while Agassi conceded only break point – which he saved – during the painfully one-sided match.

Lee, the son of a potato farmer, prompted scenes of jubilation in his homeland reminiscent of last year's World Cup frenzy when – as a qualifier – he defeated Ferrero, the world No 4, becoming the first South Korean to win an ATP tournament. Interest in tennis, a minority sport in South Korea, has surged because of his success, and he received a congratulatory telephone call from the country's president, Kim Dae-Jung.

"My confidence was going up and up every day until today, but Andre gave me a lesson and made me realise that the ATP Tour is very tough," he said.

Moya, runner-up in the 1997 Australian Open, was also beaten by Fish at the Sydney International. Last night he went down 6-3, 6-7, 4-6, 6-4, 2-6. "I lost two times in a row, consecutive weeks, to a player who's ranked No 90 or something, so that means something is not working," he said. His departure, as well as helping Agassi, eases the path to the final for Lleyton Hewitt, the Australian world No 1.

Anna Kournikova, who stunned her fans by winning her first grand slam match for two years on Monday, returned to form with a humiliating 6-0, 6-1 defeat by the Belgian No 5 seed, Justine Henin-Hardenne. It was the Russian's worst grand slam loss for eight years. "She was always a step ahead of me," she said of Henin-Hardenne. "I had no weapons against her."

Venus Williams, the No 2 seed, made swift work of her 21-year-old compatriot Ansley Cargill, apparently unhindered by several kilos of gold jewellery including an enormous necklace of dubious taste. She dismissed Cargill 6-3, 6-0, chalking up 39 winners to her opponent's three.

Lindsay Davenport, the former Australian Open champion, seeded No 9 following a long injury lay-off, struggled against Uzbekistan's Iroda Tulyaganova before prevailing 6-7, 6-4, 7-5. But Alexandra Stevenson, who ousted the sole British player, Elena Baltacha, in the first round, lost in two sets to Denisa Chladkova, while the No 13 seed, Silvia Farina Elia, of Italy, was knocked out by Australia's Nicole Pratt.