Andy and Amelie felled in seeds' cull

By Ossian Shine

MELBOURNE (Reuters) - With neither pomp nor ceremony Andy Roddick and Amelie Mauresmo were jettisoned from the Australian Open on Friday, beaten by unheralded journeymen on the bleakest of nights for the former world number ones.

Mauresmo and her fragile temperament succumbed to the tenacity of homegrown baseliner Casey Dellacqua while Roddick's brittle gameplan was picked apart by little-known but gifted German Philipp Kohlschreiber.

The night shocks came hard on the heels of a day session which had proved fertile for the seeds -- Justine Henin, Serena Williams and Rafael Nadal all winning -- and provided much needed drama at the season's opening grand slam.

Roddick's demise, a fittingly dramatic, explosive and bad-tempered 6-4 3-6 7-6 6-7 8-6 loss as moths fluttered in the early hours of the Melbourne morning, illustrated the danger the world's best face every time they step on court.

"I just said to myself, 'full power on every shot', Kohlschreiber told the crowd," sharing his route-one tactic.

Roddick had no answer to the man in the luminous green shirt with the sledgehammer backhand.

"NOT FUN"

Frustration filled him. He shouted at himself, at the umpire, at the crowd. Nothing worked and, despite a career-best 42 aces in a match, he folded just after 2.00am.