Hingis reclaimed the top spot in the WTA rankings when Lindsay Davenport lost to Venus Williams in the semifinals of last week's TIG Tennis Classic in San Diego.

On Sunday, Hingis put an exclamation point on her return to the No. 1 ranking with a convincing victory over Williams in the final to win her WTA Tour-leading fifth title of the year.

The 18-year-old Hingis suffered back-to-back defeats at the French Open and Wimbledon which caused her to take a temporary break from the game. But she looked impressive in her return to the tour last week as she never lost a set en route to the title.

Davenport was thwarted in her attempt to sweep all three summer hardcourt tournaments in her home state for the second straight year with her loss to Williams.

Davenport has gone 18-2 in her last 20 matches in California, with both defeats coming at the hands of Venus Williams and younger sister Serena.

The Wimbledon champion, Davenport has put together a 35-6 record in 1999 and has dropped only four of 24 hardcourt matches this season. She will defend her U.S. Open singles title later this month.

Davenport defeated Hingis, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 in last year's final and is the top seed, with Hingis seeded second,

Coming off a first-round loss in San Diego, Mary Pierce of France is seeded third, followed by Spain's Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario, Nathalie Tauziat of France, Serena Williams, Austria's Barbara Schett and Sandrine Testud of France.

Tauziat is the only seed in action today as she faces 1994 champion Amy Frazier of the United States.

In other first-round action, 1995 winner Conchita Martinez of Spain faces Austria's Sylvia Plischke tonight; Iva Majoli of Croatia meets Julie Halard-Decugis of France; and Japan's Ai Sugiyama plays Nathalie Dechy of France.

American teenager Alexandra Stevenson will compete in her first WTA Tour event since making headlines on and off the court at Wimbledon.

Stevenson became the first female qualifier to reach the semifinals at Wimbledon and was the third female in the Open Era (since 1968) to reach the semifinals in her Wimbledon debut. Off the court, it was revealed that NBA Hall-of-Famer Julius Erving was the 18-year-old's father.

Stevenson could meet Davenport in the second round if she gets past Germany's Anke Huber on Tuesday night.

The top four seeds received byes into the second round.

First prize is $80,000.