Spanish ninth seed Juan Carlos Ferrero has become the Australian Open's biggest casualty to date, after losing in five sets in his second round match in Melbourne against local favourite Andrew Ilie.
The Australian took the tie 3-6 6-2 6-1 1-6 6-2.
Former US Open Champion Todd Martin needed five sets to dispatch Argentina's Andrea Calleri 1-6 7-6 7-5 4-6 6-2, but elsewhere the big names had few problems.
Second seed Marat Safin, who so narrowly missed out on topping the world rankings at year's end last month, dispatched Romanian Andrei Pavel 4-6 6-3 6-4 7-6, with 12th seed Patrick Rafter delighting the home fans with an emphatic four set triumph over Russian Nicolai Davydenko.
Tim Henman's impressive record also continues, thanks to 6-1 7-6 7-6 win over Nicolas Lapentti.
Ironically, it was Lapentti who inspired Ecuador's summer Davis Cup triumph over Britain at Wimbledon, but bitter memories of that defeat never seemed to hamper the number 8 seed.
The only other seeded player in action overnight, 14th seed Dominic Hrbaty, dispatched Spaniard Francisco Clavet 6-3 6-4 6-2.