Henin-Hardenne makes early Miami exit, Mauresmo motors

MIAMI, Mar 24 (Reuters) Justine Henin-Hardenne became the highest-seeded casualty at the Nasdaq-100 Open after she was beaten 7-5 6-4 by American Meghann Shaughnessy in the second round today .

World number one Amelie Mauresmo, however, had no such problems. The Frenchwoman took just 44 minutes to embarrass Australian Samantha Stosur 6-0 6-0, having faced only one break point during the whitewash.

Stosur, who has won three doubles titles this season, was plagued by 26 unforced errors.

The third-seeded Henin-Hardenne had won all three of her previous meetings against Shaughnessy. Today, the Belgian suffered only her third defeat of the season after 18 victories including titles in Sydney and Dubai.

The 2006 Australian Open runner-up was broken seven times and committed 27 unforced errors in a match lasting just over two hours.

Shaughnessy next plays Sofia Arvidsson after the Swede defeated Stephanie Foretz of France 6-4 7-5.

Six-times champion Andre Agassi withdrew with a chronic back injury before his opening match against Belgium's Christophe Rochus. He, however, vowed to return once he is healthy.

''It's been the same story for little while,'' the 35-year-old told reporters.

''There are a couple of good days followed by a series of difficult ones.

''It has been frustrating and exhausting, this whole process of trying to push myself through just a few events this year.'' Agassi has been plagued by the problem for the past few seasons and requires several pain-killing injections a year.

Reuters DH VP0210