Henin through after epic

In a pulsating, high-quality contest, 2004 champion Henin withstood Dementieva's baseline onslaught early, then sealed the match under enormous pressure in the second set to claim her biggest scalp since coming back from retirement after 18 months out of the game.

"I couldn't believe I would relive these kind of emotions," the seven-times grand slam champion said in a courtside interview.

"It's only positive things ... The tournament is not over."

Henin, who made the final of her first tournament back at the Brisbane International earlier this month, will face another Russian in the third round, 27th seed Alisa Kleybanova, who earlier beat SoranaCirstea 6-4 6-3.

Just before the Australian Grand Slam, the Belgian said she was looking forward to tough matches to gauge her level against the world's best and Dementieva delivered.

The Russian, a semi-finalist here last year and still chasing her maiden Grand Slam, reeled in Henin twice in the first set when the Belgian threatened to break away.

But the pressure told on Dementieva, who blew set points when serving at 5-4, and collapsed with unforced errors to allow Henin to take the set.

The cat-and-mouse contest continued in the second, with Henin chasing Dementieva and herself suffering an attack of nerves when serving for the match at 5-4.

Under enormous pressure, Dementieva ripped two clean winners to break back and scrape into a tiebreaker.

More drama was to follow as Henin double faulted, then hit long to hand Dementieva a set point, but the Russian wasted it before seemingly suffering a brain failure.

Needing to rally to stay in the game, she gambled with a drop shot from near the back of the baseline which found the net to gift match point.

Henin pounced with a volley to seal the match and screamed in triumph amid thunderous cheers at Rod Laver Arena.

"It is disappointing ... I feel like I gave her the opportunity to play well," said a downcast Dementieva, whose closest tilt at a Grand Slam was six years ago with finals at the 2004 French and US Opens.

"I think she was playing very well ... It just doesn't feel like she was having a break."

Kim Clijsters survived a test from Thailand's TamarineTanasugarn to reach the third round of the Australian Open with a hard-fought 6-3 6-3 victory.

Clijsters, who appeard to be cruising after breaking Tanasugarn early in the first set, suddenly met stiff resistance from the 99th-ranked Thai veteran in the second.

The Belgian found herself trailing 3-1 after being broken, but struck back and battled to hold on to her serve after winning a couple of marathon games.

"I feel like I'm good enough on the day to beat my opponents," Clijsters said. "It's not my best tennis yet, but hopefully I can save that when it's really necessary."

Clijsters, who came out of retirement last year to win the US Open in her third tournament back, is bidding for a third Grand Slam title, after being beaten in the final at Melbourne Park by compatriot Justine Henin in 2004.

She looked sharp early under a sun-drenched Rod Laver Arena, mixing baseline power with the occasional deft drop shot to break Tanasugarn and race to a 4-1 lead in the first set.

After sealing it with a rocketed cross-court forehand winner, Clijsters found herself on the back foot, however, when Tanasugarn began attacking her serve with abandon.

The Thai broke Clijsters to take a 2-0 lead, but handed it back shortly after and was unable to contain the Belgian's push to the finish line.

Clijsters, seeded 15th in Melbourne, will play the winner of the match between Russia's Nadia Petrova, who she has beaten in each of their previous four meetings, after the 19th seed beat KaiaKanepi of Estonia 6-4 6-4.

Dinara Safina overcame a minor stumble when serving for the match before advancing to the third round of the Australian Open with a 6-3 6-4 victory over BarboraZahlavova Strycova.

The second-ranked Russian controlled the match from the onset against the 67th ranked Czech, although she was forced to stave off four break points in the final game.

Last year's beaten finalist at Melbourne Park was 0-40 down in the 10th game of the second set but recovered to seal victory in 93 minutes when a strong serve down the middle forced Zahlavov Strycova's to hook her return well wide.

"In some moments I played not bad, but it's good that I win the match and still there is so much room to improve," Safina said. "You know, that's such a good thing (that) you know deep inside you have so much more to bring out.

"In the next match I can do a little bit more and more, until I don't find everything on the court. Overall I think (there) was too many unforced errors. The second set had to be much easier and I complicated myself. Hopefully next match I can do better."

Safina will next meet Elena Baltacha after the Briton upset the 30th seeded Ukrainian KaterynaBondarenko 6-2 7-5 earlier in the day.

Caroline Wozniacki continued her domination over Aleksandra Wozniak with a 6-4 6-2 victory in their first round match.

The pair were scheduled to meet on Tuesday but heavy rain on the previous day forced a backlog of matches in the bottom half of the women's draw.

World number four Wozniacki, last year's US Open finalist, wasted little time in dispatching her error-prone Canadian opponent for the sixth time in seven encounters.

"I always just look one match at a time and I want to win. That's my goal," she said. "Then, you know, I try not to put more pressure on myself than I already do."

Wozniak's only victory was when Dane Wozniacki retired injured from their match in Tokyo last year.

Wozniacki will meet Julia Goerges in the second round after the German beat TamiraPaszek 6-0 3-6 6-3.

French Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova charged into the third round with a commanding 6-2 6-2 win over fellow Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.

Kuznetsova dropped her first service game, but it was all smooth sailing after that as she wrapped up the match in an hour and nine minutes.

"I just get extra motivation when I play slams. This is how I explain it," Kuznetsova said.

"Doesn't matter how bad you play, you come to Grand Slams, you just get there, and you're like, 'Oh, Grand Slam, it's special, this is for what I work for, what I play.' You just enjoy it so much."

Pavlyuchenkova, a two-time junior champion at Melbourne Park, saved two match points at 5-2 in the second set before Kuznetsova whipped a cross-court forehand return past her to seal the win.

Kuznetsova next plays Angelique Kerber, after the German put out French 26th seed AravaneRezai 6-2 6-3.