It was a bad day at the office yesterday for two of the rising stars of women's tennis at the Australian Open. Last year's beaten finalist Amelie Mauresmo crashed out in the second round while fellow players and officials rounded on the young Australian Jelena Dokic after she insulted her victorious opponent and alleged that the draw was fixed against her.

Mauresmo, the controversial Frenchwoman, had been in a redhot streak of form which saw her win in Sydney last week, defeating Martina Hingis, the world number one, Mary Pierce, and Lindsay Davenport in the process. Yesterday, she found the pressures of expectation too much when she was beaten 6-4 6-4 by Patty Schnyder of Switzerland.

Schynder, ranked 29 in the world, mixed up her game well in the Rod Laver Arena, although Mauresmo, the number seven seed, made a stream of largely unforced errors.

"Nothing was really working. It was one of those days you should really stay in bed," said Mauresmo, who believed the fast courts did not suit her top-spin style.

Meanwhile, Dokic was told to "button her lip" by fellow Australian Nicole Bradtke after her churlish description of Rita Kuti-Kis, who beat her in the first round, as someone who "has never been a player and never will be".

The Women's Tennis Association emphatically denied Dokic's claim that the draws were rigged against her. The WTA fined her US $2,500 for being late for her mandatory news conference and could take further disciplinary action. The president of Tennis Australia also said he wanted to speak with her.

Dokic's doubles partner, Jennifer Capriati, had some sympathy. "I think a lot of things are blown out of proportion and nobody's perfect," she said.

But Kis remained sanguine: "I don't care about what she said because I think the main point is that I won". In other women's results, Jennifer Capriati toppled 14th seed Dominique Van Roost of Belgium 6-1, 4-6, 8-6 to add to the list of seeded casualties.

World number eight and 1998 Wimbledon finalist Nathalie Tauziat was meanwhile bounced 76, 6-4 by Canadian qualifier Sonya Jeyaseelan, ranked 145 in the world.

It swiftly brought Tauziat down to earth after she finished 1999 on a career-high world ranking of seven.

Former champion and fourth seed Mary Pierce eased into the women's third round with a comfortable 6-2, 6-2 win over fellow Frenchwoman Amelie Cocheteux.

Eleventh seed Anna Kournikova barely spent enough time on court one to satisfy her hundreds of fans as she beat Natasha Zvereva of Belarus 6-1, 6-4.

Meanwhile, Pete Sampras and Tim Heman remain on course for another Grand Slam collision - this time in conditions Sampras describes as "pretty ridiculous".

Easy second-round victories - Henman's German opponent Rainer Schuttler quit at 2-6, 1-4 with a stomach muscle injury - kept alive the possibility of the two meeting in the quarter-finals.

But after beating Swede Mikael Tillstrom 6-3, 7-6, 6-1, six-time Wimbledon champion Sampras voiced more displeasure about the change to a faster surface from 12 months ago.

"The balls were flying all over the place - it's even quicker than Wimbledon in a way," said the third seed.

"Wimbledon has got the bad bounces and whatever, but these conditions are really pretty ridiculous.

"There's nothing we can do about it now, but I'm sure with all the people complaining and talking that it will be a little slower next year."

Henman, beaten by Sampras in the semi-finals at Wimbledon the last two years, has never gone beyond the third round in four previous visits to Melbourne Park. So, not surprisingly, his response was slightly different.

"No complaints from me," he smiled after his unexpectedly short day's work. "I'm perfectly happy playing on these courts."

Henman's next opponent tomorrow is Frenchman Sebastien Grosjean, whom he beat in the third round at Wimbledon last summer.

Out yesterday went eighth seed Todd Martin, to Spaniard Fernando Vicente 7-5 in the fifth set, and ninth seed Richard Krajicek to France's Nicholas Escude in four.

The father of Jelena Dokic scuffled with a television cameraman from Australia's Seven Network yesterday before offering him cash to hand over a tape of the incident. Television footage showed Damir Dokic had broken a microphone off a camera before police ordered him to give it back. The incident occurred when father and daughter were filmed leaving their Melbourne hotel and walking along a suburban street.

After the scuffle Damir is heard on television saying: "Give me tape . . . $500 for tape."