MADRID, Oct 20: Top seed Tim Henman and number three Marat Safin set the pace past Spaniards with Paradorn Srichaphan tacking on a third Wednesday loss for a home hope at the 2.425-million-euro Madrid Masters.

Henman, competing for the first time in nearly a month and with his back and shoulder problems no longer a worry, posted an efficient, confidence-boosting first career win at the indoor Rockodromo venue.

The Briton demolished former Roland Garros winner Albert Costa 6-4, 6-2, following on after 16th seed Paradorn put out wild card Alex Corretja 7-6 (7/5), 6-3.

Safin earned revenge for a second-round defeat at the Athens Olympic tournament as he dampened crowd hopes on a stormy day in the capital, defeating Feliciano Lopez 7-5, 6-7 (5/7), 6-3 three days after the Spaniard won the title in Vienna.

"I lost to him in our two other matches, both on very fast surfaces," said the Russian, now 39-20 this season with his only title coming in Beijing last month.

"He serves well, he has some huge shots, it was a difficult win for me, it was really tough."

After winning the first set, Henman dominated in the second, breaking for a comfortable 5-2 margin and closing it out easily. But he said that his exalted top position in the field means little once play begins.

"It means my name was going to be at the top of the draw, but besides that it doesn't mean anything," said the 30-year-old. "If I hadn't played well today, then I was going to lose.

"I played some good tennis, it's good to get that win under my belt."

Chile's Olympic-medal pair of heroes from Athens both exited, with Taylor Dent earning an upset over fifth seeded Olympic singles champion Nicolas Massu 6-3, 3-6, 6-3.

Austrian qualifier Stefan Koubek accounted for Fernando Gonzalez, seeded 15th, 6-1, 3-6, 7-6 (7/5).

Paradorn, the tournament number 16, earned his first career victory against Corretja after never having won a set in three previous matches.

The Asian struck 23 winners while losing serve only once. The showing was enough to overcome Corretja, who had 35 miscues.

"It was tough to play Alex, especially in Spain, it's always difficult to play the old man," joked the Thai. "But I'm happy to finally have a win."

German Tommy Haas eliminated Czech 11th seed Jiri Novak 6-1, 6-4, but there was more disappointment for last year's world number six Rainer Schuettler, defeated by Croatian Ivan Ljubicic 6-3, 6-0.

Meanwhile, England's Tim Henman joined a chorus of players who can't see what the fuss is about as a feminist Spanish politician goes to war against leggy models serving as ball girls at the on-going Madrid Masters.

"It's all getting a bit serious, isn't it?" said the Briton Wednesday after being informed that Spain's secretary of state for equality, Soledad Murillo, has called for the tradition-busting experiment to be halted.

Tournament director Manolo Santans countered that he'd be pleased to see scantily-clad male models at a few women's events, adding that he's yet to receive a letter of complaint from anyone.

Second seed Andre Agassi also gave his tentative seal of approval to the publicity attracting one-off, limited to night showcase matches. But he hasn't had the chance to personally experience the phenomenon as his match was played during the day.

RESULTS:

Second Round

Tim Henman (GBR) bt Albert Costa (SPA) 6-4, 6-2; Taylor Dent (USA) bt Nicolas Massu (CHI) 6-3, 3-6, 6-3; Stefan Koubek (AUT) bt Fernando Gonzalez (CHI) 6-1, 3-6, 7-6 (7/5); Paradorn Srichaphan (THA) bt Alex Corretja (SPA) 7-6 (7/5), 6-3; Marat Safin (RUS) bt Feliciano Lopez (SPA) 7-5, 6-7 (5/7), 6-3; Tommy Haas (GER) bt Jiri Novak (CZE) 6-1, 6-4; Ivan Ljubicic (CRO) bt Rainer Schuettler (GER) 6-3, 6-0.-Agencies