Tim Henman believes he might have finally hit upon the right formula for Grand Slam success after linking up with new coach Paul Annacone.

Pete Sampras' former mentor has instilled a sense of confidence and aggression into Henman's game which, the British number one admitted, had not always been present.

Frenchman Jean-Rene Lisnard bore the brunt yesterday.

Henman set the tempo from the off, served effectively, volleyed superbly and pushed on for a convincing 6-2 6-4 6-2 victory in front of a patriotic crowd in the Margaret Court Arena.

''I think it's important that I'm committed to my style and committed to the way I want to play,'' he said.

''A - I think if I do that I've got a good chance (of winning). And B - if I play the right way and he's too good for me on the day, then all credit to him.

''The tone that I set early on was very important. I was very aggressive from the outset, was chipping and charging, not really giving him the rhythm that he needs to play his game.

''That kind of tempo was certainly to my advantage. I was able to maintain it for three sets.

''I've probably been guilty in years gone by of not using it enough. I certainly want to make sure that I keep playing the right way.''

Henman lost concentration just the once as the raucous crowd played up and served two double faults to give Lisnard a sniff of a break at 4-3 in the second set.

But the world number 112 could not convert, Henman held his serve with an ace and was back on track as he settled once again into his new aggressive gameplan, with over half his points won at the net.

''There is an element of taking yourself out of the comfort zone. The commitment that I want to have and the strategy that I play is the most important thing,'' he said.

Next up is Czech number two Radek Stepanek who rallied from two sets down to win through, but lost his only meeting with Henman in Paris, 2002.

Henman is the sole British player left after Greg Rusedski's first round-defeat.

However, failure in his next challenge could be career threatening.

Rusedski will front an ATP doping tribunal in Montreal on February 9 where he will seek to explain away a positive test for the banned steroid nandrolone and avoid a potential two-year ban.

Such a punishment would almost certainly render yesterday's limp defeat to Albert Costa his final match as a professional, so the embattled 30-year-old is pulling out all the stops.

He has called on six players who were cleared after testing positive for nandrolone to give evidence on his behalf at the tribunal.

Rusedski claims to already have on board Bohdan Ulihrach, the Czech who had a two year ban overturned by the ATP, and admitted evidence from all seven would be crucial to his case.

''They are important but I can't go into details because then I'd be breaking what's been discussed in my situation,'' Rusedski said in Melbourne. ''I'm hoping some of them will come forward and help me because they've been put in such a similar situation.''

The elation Mark Philippoussis showed on court in beating 2002 Australian Open champion Thomas Johansson swiftly evaporated when the big-serving Australian discovered his cousin had suffered a heart attack.

Philippoussis noticed during his tense 7-6 (8-6) 6-2 7-6 (7-4) victory that his sister had disappeared from the players' box and realised something had happened.

He was not informed of the developments until after his first round match finished.

''My cousin David had a heart attack while he was in the toilet. It was fortunate that a doctor happened to be there with him at the time,'' said Philippoussis.

The incident at Melbourne Park took some of the gloss off a fine day for the Australians, with Philippoussis' Davis Cup team-mates Wayne Arthurs, Todd Reid and Lleyton Hewitt all progressing.

Of the major seeds, world number two Roger Federer dominated every facet of the match to beat American Alex Bogomolov 6-3 6-4 6-0, while in-form Argentinian David Nalbandian and Spain's Juan Carlos Ferrero.

The biggest shock of the tournament came with fifth seed Guillermo Coria bowing out in straight sets to Frenchman Cyril Saulnier 7-6 (9-7) 6-2 6-4.

Coria was one of six seeds to fall on day two, including Spanish duo Felix Mantilla (23) and Feliciano Lopez (28), Martin Verkerk (17), Max Mirnyi (24) and Jonas Bjorkman (25).

Hewitt's opponent Cecil Mamiit injured his ankle in a freak collision with the umpire's chair and retired with the 15th seed leading 6-2 6-4 0-1.

Wimbledon champion Federer outgunned Bogomolov 13 aces to none; 42 winners to nine; nine break point opportunities to none.

In the women's competition, Venus Williams returned to the Grand Slam arena looking sprightly and enthusiastic, if a touch rusty, as she breezed through to the second round in straight sets.

The number three seed was joined by Kim Clijsters, who overcame doubts about her injured ankle to succeed this year where Jennifer Capriati failed last and beat Germany's Marlene Weingartner.

Unlike the opening day of the tournament, the majority of women's seeds survived intact with only Spain's Conchita Martinez bowing out.

The former Wimbledon champion lost in straight sets to Kristina Brandi of Puerto Rica 7-6 (9/7) 6-1 while there were victories for Russian sixth seed Anastasia Myskina, Ai Sugiyama (8), Chanda Rubin (9) and Paola Suarez (12).