Kafelnikov was beaten in the second round of the $10.5 million Grand Slam event for the second straight year, falling to Slovakia's Dominik Hrbaty, 6-4, 6-1, 6-4.

The top seed on the women's side, Switzerland's Martina Hingis, quieted the crowd at Roland Garros by defeating mistake-prone Frenchwoman Amelie Mauresmo, 6-3, 6-3, in today's featured match.

Defending men's champion Carlos Moya of Spain and American Andre Agassi fought their way into the third round. Moya, the fourth seed, got past 1992 runner-up Petr Korda of the Czech Republic, 6-7 (5-7), 6-4, 6-3, 6-1, and Agassi came within two points of defeat before rallying for a 6-2, 4-6, 2-6, 7-5, 6-0 victory over Frenchman Arnaud Clement.

The 1996 French Open champion, Kafelnikov was poised to become the world's No. 1 player after winning the Australian Open and another tournament at Rotterdam in February, but the suffered seven straight defeats on the ATP Tour. However, due to Pete Sampras' poor season, Kafelnikov rose to the top spot on May 3, raising questions as to how a player who had played so poorly could receive the No. 1 ranking.

"I'm No. 1 in the world, and every time I step on the court against any opponents, it seems to me they are playing with a lot of desire," Kafelnikov said. "Everybody wants to win. Everybody wants a piece of you. But there's nothing much I can say about the way that I played. Dominik played very solid and definitely deserved to win."

With Kafelnikov's loss to the 30th-ranked Hrbaty, there are now four players in contention for the top spot -- Sampras, Patrick Rafter, Tim Henman and Gustavo Kuerten -- depending on their showing at this event.

Kafelnikov was knocked back on his heels from the beginning of the match, dropping his serve in the first game. Although he broke back, the 25-year-old Russian could not get ahead of Hrbaty, who won 86 percent of his first serves in the opening set.

The winner of a warmup event at the Czech Open in Prague earlier this month, Hrbaty dominated the second, breaking serve three times and claiming the set in just 23 minutes. He jumped out to an early lead in the third, taking a 3-0 advantage that prompted Kafelnikov to smash his racquet in frustration and receive a warning. Hrbaty withstood a late rally by his opponent to improve to 3-0 against Kafelnikov in his career.

"I knew that if I beat him two times before, I can beat him a third time," explained Hrbaty, who never felt the outcome was in doubt even after dropping his serve while leading 5-3 in the third. "I knew that I was going to win because he didn't play well all match. So I know that he can't win the match."

The 21-year-old Hrbaty, who is into the third round of the French Open for the second year in a row, had 37 winners, compared to Kafelnikov's 17.

"Seems to me I felt like he wasn't going to miss a shot," said Kafelnikov, who committed 45 unforced errors and eight double faults. "Sometimes when I'm not at 100 percent in my game, it's pretty obvious that I'm going to have a tough day in the office. That's basically what happened."

In a match eerily similar to their Australian Open final in January, Hingis took control midway through the first set and never allowed Mauresmo to get back into the match. After being down a break and 0-30 in the sixth game of the first set, Hingis broke back to even the set, 3-3, and broke Mauresmo again in the eighth game, helped by two double faults from the Frenchwoman. Mauresmo did herself in by committing 25 unforced errors in the opening set.

Hingis stormed to a 3-0 lead in the second set before Mauresmo gave a glimmer of hope the partisan crowd by breaking Hingis in the fourth game. However, Mauresmo continued to contribute to her own demise by making 26 unforced errors in the second set. Hingis closed out the match by breaking Mauresmo in the final game.

"I think it was a very tactical match," Hingis said. "I was a bit lucky to pick up my game (down 3-2 in the first set). I think we were a bit nervous, but at the end I was handling it a bit better. I don't think the crowd and the pressure on her were helping, either."

Hingis defeated Mauresmo, 6-2, 6-3, to win her third straight Australian Open title in January. But Mauresmo defeated Hingis in three sets one month later in Paris at the Open Gaz de France on the hard surface.

The two had been at odds after Hingis was quoted in a magazine as being critical of Mauresmo's openly lesbian lifestyle.

"I think the feelings stay the same, actually," Mauresmo said after today's match.

Agassi fell behind two sets to one as he failed to hold serve in the third set. After he broke Clement in the first game of the fourth set, the Frenchman broke back in the next game as Agassi failed to hold serve for the sixth straight game.

At 4-5, Agassi was down 0-30 and appeared headed for defeat, but he managed to win the next five points to pull even. With the momentum change, Agassi capitalized by breaking Clement in the next game. After getting treated for leg cramps, Clement had three break points on Agassi's serve, but once again faltered as he lost the next five points to force the deciding set.

Seemingly in control at that point, Agassi stormed through the fifth set in 19 minutes and won for the first time in six five-set matches at the French Open.

"(It was) tougher than I would have liked," Agassi said. "I felt like I got up and let a few careless shots get the better of me, got a little down on myself, a little discouraged, but managed to hang in there long enough to make something good happen. It is positive, no question, but I would have appreciated an easier match."

Up next for Agassi is fellow American and former NCAA champion Chris Woodruff, who recorded an impressive 7-6 (7-2), 7-6 (7-5), 7-5 over Australian Open semifinalist Nicolas Lapentti of Ecuador today. Woodruff defeated Agassi in five sets in the second round at Roland Garros in 1996.

"You certainly don't like to be playing an American, but I enjoy playing against guys on clay whose last name doesn't end in a vowel," Agassi joked. "That's always a good sign. He's definitely a dangerous player. He proved that to me a couple of years ago."

Fifth seed Richard Krajicek of the Netherlands went into today's match against American Vincent Spadea with a chance at the top spot but fell meekly, 6-1, 6-2, 6-4.

However, Henman kept alive his slim hopes today with a 5-7, 6-1, 7-5, 6-2 win over Jiri Novak of the Czech Republic. The seventh seed from Britain, who had never won a match at the French Open before Monday, has to reach at least the final with 251 bonus points to get to the top.

In addition, ninth seed Marcelo Rios of Chile breezed past France's Arnaud Boetsch, 6-2, 6-3, 7-5, and No. 12 Greg Rusedski of Britain dispsoed of Australia's Richard Fromberg, 6-4, 4-6, 6-2, 6-3.

In other women's results, fourth seed Jana Novotna of the Czech Republic dispatched countrywoman Adriana Gersi, 6-3, 6-2; fifth seed Venus Williams of the United States subdued 1988 finalist Natasha Zvereva of Belarus, 7-6 (7-3), 6-0; and Venus' younger sister, 10th-seeded Serena, cruised past Argentina's Mariana Diaz-Oliva, 6-3, 6-4;

Also, defending champion Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario of Spain, the seventh seed, crushed Slovenia's Katarina Srebotnik, 6-1, 6-2, and No. 15 Barbara Schett of Austria got past American Kimberly Po, 6-3, 3-6, 6-1.

No. 12 Sandrine Testud of France was the lone women's seed knocked out, falling victim to South African Mariaan de Swardt, 6-3, 6-2.