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MELBOURNE, Australia - The Australian Open men's draw has a distinct American flavor.

Four Americans - top-seeded Andy Roddick, defending champion Andre Agassi, James Blake and Robby Ginepri - have reached the round of 16.

All four players advanced with victories Friday and are in the top half of the draw. That means the two quarterfinal matches in the top half of the bracket could be all-American.

Roddick and Agassi were particularly impressive.

Roddick needed only 71 minutes to beat fellow American Taylor Dent 6-2, 6-0, 6-2.

Dent called the loss "without question, the worst tennis experience of my entire life."

"I wasn't tanking out there. I was busting my butt. . . . It was embarrassing, absolutely embarrassing," he said.

Dent found relief nowhere: Roddick punished him on the court; a heckler berated him from the stands.

"The lady said, 'Come on, Taylor, I paid a lot of money for these seats,' " Dent recalled. "I said, 'It's costing me a lot of pride to stay out here.' "

Agassi was equally overpowering. The eight-time Grand Slam champ routed Sweden's Thomas Enqvist 6-0, 6-3, 6-3 to extend his streak at the Australian Open to 24 matches - spanning titles in 2000, '01 and '03.

"I feel like I did everything I was looking to do," said the fourth-seeded Agassi, who is 5-5 in matches against Enqvist.

Blake made quick work of France's Olivier Patience, winning 6-1, 6-3, 6-2.

"This is the farthest I've gone in a Slam, and I want it to continue," Blake said. "I feel I played pretty darned well."

No. 32 Robby Ginepri beat Nicolas Escude 6-2, 6-3, 6-4.

Today, Roddick faces 16th seed Sjeng Schalken; Agassi faces No. 13 Paradorn Srichaphan; Blake meets Marat Safin, who eliminated American Todd Martin; and Ginepri meets No. 9 Sebastien Grosjean.

Roddick and Agassi would meet in the semifinals.

Highlights

Men's third round

• James Blake def. Olivier Patience, 6-1, 6-3, 6-2.

• No. 13 Paradorn Srichaphan def. No. 19 Gustavo Kuerten, 6-3, 7-5, 6-4.

• No. 32 Robby Ginepri def. Nicolas Escude, 6-2, 6-3, 6-4.

• No. 4 Andre Agassi def. Thomas Enqvist, 6-0, 6-3, 6-3.

• No. 1 Andy Roddick def. No. 27 Taylor Dent, 6-2, 6-0, 6-2.

• Marat Safin def. Todd Martin, 7-5, 1-6, 4-6, 6-0, 7-5.

Women's third round

• No. 1 Justine Henin-Hardenne def. Svetlana Kuznetsova, 6-2, 7-5.

• No. 5 Lindsay Davenport def. Laura Granville, 6-4, 6-0.

• No. 4 Amelie Mauresmo def. Anabel Medina Garrigues, 6-1, 6-2.