MELBOURNE, Australia -- Fifth-seeded Mary Pierce, the 1995 Australian champion and a two-time finalist at last year's majors, became the highest-seeded player to be eliminated when she lost 6-3, 7-5 to Iveta Benesova.
Pierce, who turned 31 last Sunday and was playing in her 13th Australian Open, crashed into the net as she lunged to reach a drop shot on match point and said she had problems with her contact lenses in the hot, windy conditions.
But the bottom line, she added, was that she didn't play well.
''It was just one of those days,'' Pierce said. ''Probably April or May was my last bad match. If I only have a bad match every nine months, it's OK.''
Pierce made 41 unforced errors, against only 19 for Benesova.
''This is definitely the best win in my whole career,'' said the 22-year-old Czech player. ''It's good that it happened in a Grand Slam.
Swiss fans were sprinkled around Rod Laver Arena, including three young men with the national flag painted on their faces, as Federer took the court.
They saw nothing to disappoint them.
Federer was so dominating that Mayer never even had a game point after holding serve to pull within 4-5 in the second set.
The overmatched Mayer tried a little of everything, charging the net and flicking soft drops from the baseline, but nothing worked with any consistency.
Always a perfectionist, the normally stoic Federer did seem a little annoyed at his 18 unforced errors that accounted for a third of Florian's points. And after smacking a forehand crosscourt winner for his third break of the final set, he allowed himself a little fist pump.
Federer finished off the match with a pair of service winners and his eighth and ninth aces, then hit the ball high into the stands on one side and tossed his green wristband on the other. His next opponent is 30th-seeded Max Mirnyi.
No. 5 Nikolay Davydenko, a potential quarterfinal opponent, advanced 4-6, 6-0, 6-3, 6-2 over American Kevin Kim and No. 6 Guillermo Coria overcame Italy's Federico Luzzi 7-6 (10), 6-4, 6-3.
Also advancing were 12th-seeded Dominik Hrbaty, No. 15 Juan Carlos Ferrero, No. 21 Nicolas Kiefer, No. 23 Igor Andreev and No. 25 Sebastien Grosjean (25).
Kim Clijsters, bothered by hip and back soreness, overcame 48 unforced errors and five double faults to beat Yuan Meng, who had heavy strapping on both thighs and produced only two clean winners in the match.
The second-seeded Clijsters needed treatment on her back and hip between sets and wasn't moving fluently, although she went to the net 14 times and won 12 of those points.
''I'm happy with the win, but my body doesn't feel too good at the moment,'' Clijsters said. ''Although I didn't play my best tennis, not even close, I always felt like I could win.
''As long as (the hip) doesn't get worse, I'll keep fighting and see how I go.''
Third-seeded Amelie Mauresmo advanced 7-6 (1), 6-2 over French compatriot Emilie Loit. Also advancing were No. 7 Patty Schnyder, No. 12 Anastasia Myskina, No. 16 Nicole Vaidisova and No. 20 Flavia Pennetta.
Seven of the seeded women lost Thursday.
Samantha Stosur beat No. 21 Ana Ivanovic; and 17-year-old Michaella Krajicek, the half-sister of 1996 Wimbledon champion Richard Krajicek, defeated No. 32 Sania Mirza.
Other ranked players who lost were Dinara Safina (19), Anna-Lena Groenefeld (22), Marion Bartoli (27) and Gisela Dulko (31).
Lleyton Hewitt, a finalist here last year, was scheduled to renew his heated rivalry with Argentina's Juan Ignacio Chela at night, a rematch of their controversial third-round meeting. Hewitt won and Chela was fined for spitting in the Australian's direction.
Top-seeded Lindsay Davenport plays Maria Kirilenko in the third round. bet365.com has her listed at -1400 to win the match.