INDIAN WELLS, Calif. – Roger Federer and Andre Agassi won their opening matches while top seeds Justine Henin-Hardenne and Lindsay Davenport took another step toward the Pacific Life Open women’s final yesterday.

Federer, no. 1 in the world and a two-time defending champion in this event, turned back Nicolas Massu of Chile in a second set tiebreaker, 6-3, 7-6 (4), while no. 8 seed Agassi won the final six games in a 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 victory over Paul Goldstein in the second round.

Meanwhile, relegated to one of the outside courts on a cold, windy day, Henin-Hardenne overcame Tszvetana Pironkova of Bulgaria 6-1, 3-6, 6-3, and Davenport, who requested an afternoon match, beat Laura Granville 6-4, 6-0.

Martina Hingis beat Sybille Bammer of Austria 6-0, 6-3 to move into the fourth round against Davenport, who leads 14-10 in their rivalry.

No. 4 seed David Nalbandian and no. 5 Nikolay Davydenko also won secondround matches over Justin Gimelstob and Andy Murray, respectively.

The rain that had disrupted the tournament Friday and Saturday was in evidence only briefly yesterday. Still, at the start of the third set, Agassi asked for play to be held up a few minutes and was told no. Then there was a slight delay after Goldstein slipped and fell chasing a ball on the baseline.

“I have a hard time playing on hard court when it’s drizzling,” Agassi said. “I was just asking if we could wait just a few minutes.”