Top seed and defending champion Roger Federer has hardly needed to break sweat in coasting past the first two rounds of the year's final Grand Slam tournament.

He dismissed British veteran Tim Henman 6-3, 6-4, 7-5 in early action before the storm clouds moved in to scupper the scheduled evening session.

Next up is American journeyman Vince Spadea whose newly-released book on life on the pro tennis circuit has ruffled a few feathers among his peers.

Federer had little to say about the match itself fielding with his usual aplomb a waft of questions on such as playing in the morning, the state of Argentine tennis and the pros and cons of big muscles in tennis.

He admitted also to being caught up in the frenzy of following Andre Agassi's last stand before he retires from the sport.

Federer said he had stayed up late to marvel at Agassi's thrilling five sets win over Marcos Baghdatis.

"I get nervous myself watching this stuff, like a fan," he said.

"Get cold feet. I was in bed going under the blanket almost. It's the same for me."

That adulation could change in a week's time as Agassi is in the opposite half of the draw once again and if his crocked back holds up they could once again meet in the final.

Last year, Agassi battled through three consecutive five setters and had Federer troubled in the championship match before losing in four sets.

There was better news for the British camp later in the day as the new kid on the block Andy Murray blasted through to the third round in three impressive sets against Italy's Alessio di Mauro 6-0, 6-1, 6-1 in an expedient 74 minutes.

Next up for the 19-year-old Scot though is a tough assignment against hard-hitting 10th seed Fernando Gonzalez of Chile.

There were wins also for four other seeds -- James Blake (5) and Robby Ginepri (18) both of the United States, Tommy Haas (14) of Germany and Thomas Berdych (12) of the Czech Republic.

In the women's draw, Belgian second seed Justine Henin-Hardenne came through 4-6, 6-1, 6-0 against Ai Sugiyama of Japan in a match that at least bucked the trend of easy straight set victories for the top seeds.

The French Open champion next plays Shahar Peer of Israel who hit back from 5-2 down in the deciding set to oust Italy's Francesca Schiavone 6-3, 6-7 (3/7), 7-6 (7/3) in the best match of an otherwise drab day.

The two finalists of two years ago, Russians Svetlana Kuznetsova and Elena Dementieva also reached the last 16 in straight sets against compatriots Anastassia Rodionova and Vera Zvonareva.

Agassi meanwhile was carefully weighing up his options after the physically draining win over Baghdatis.

The 36-year-old had needed pain-killing cortisone injections to calm the pain from a bulging disc in his back just to be able to walk on to the court and was huddling with his advisors to decide if he shook take more.

"We're making some adjustments -- some anti-inflammatory options," Agassi said.

"Believe me, I'll exhaust all possibilities short of taking too many risks for the long term."

Agassi's next opponent, the ironically named Benjamin Becker of Germany was like a rabbit caught in the headlamps.

"It's a dream come. I can tell you I will be nervous, I know that. I'm trying to prepare for it because it's something I've never, never experienced," he said

"The first time I actually saw him in closeup was in LA this year in a LA tournament.

"I walked in the locker-room after a quarter-final and he was sitting there. I was really surprised. But I never talked to him or never anything."