American Monica Seles began her bid for a fifth straight title at this event by shaking off some first-set blahs and roaring past Russian qualifier Tatiana Panova, 6-7 (4-7), 6-1, 6-1 in a second-round match tonight.

Three other seeds advanced to the third round today. Looking to break out of a slump, third seed Mary Pierce of France defeated Romania's Ruxandra Dragomir, 7-6 (7-2), 6-3, for just the second win in her last five matches.

Also, sixth seed and 1995 finalist Amanda Coetzer crushed fellow South African Joannette Kruger, 6-1, 6-2, and No. 16 Chanda Rubin of the United States held off Nathalie Dechy of France, 6-2, 4-6, 6-4.

Tonight, No. 15 Elena Likhovtseva of Russia made quick work of Maureen Drake, Canada's top player, with a 6-0, 7-5 victory.

Three seeds were eliminated in opening-round play earlier today. Wimbledon semifinalist Mirjana Lucic of Croatia upset No. 13 Patty Schnyder of Switzerland, 6-3, 6-7 (5-7), 6-3. Anke Huber of Germany, the 1997 runner-up, overwhelmed No. 14 Irina Spirlea of Romania, 6-2, 6-1. And Anne-Gaelle Sidot of France ousted No. 17 Amy Frazier of the United States, 6-3, 3-6, 7-5.

Other notable early departures included first-round losers Iva Majoli of Croatia and Maria Vento of Venezuela. Majoli, who beat Hingis in the 1997 French Open, suffered a 6-3, 6-4 loss to Jelena Dokic of Australia. Vento, who won the gold medal at the Pan Am games earlier this month, was eliminated by Gala Leon Garcia of Spain, 6-3, 6-0.

No. 12 Conchita Martinez managed to avoid the rash of upsets as she disposed of fellow Spaniard Maria Antonia Sanchez Lorenzo, 6-3, 6-1.

Hingis needed only 52 minutes to improve her season record to 47-8, including 27-5 on hard courts. The current world No. 1 appears to be getting her game back on track in time for the U.S. Open.

After back-to-back losses in the French Open final and the first round at Wimbledon, Hingis took some time off before returning to action and winning the TIG Tennis Classic in San Diego two weeks ago. She lost to eventual champion Serena Williams in the semifinals of last week's Acura Classic.

"It was very important to me to play well in San Diego, to show everybody I'm back, and I'm really able to play some great tennis again," Hingis said. "I hope I get more chances to improve myself before the U.S. Open."

Seeded second, Seles is trying to become the first woman to win this tournament five straight times since Violet Summerhayes captured it each year from 1899-1905. She was one dropped set away from an embarrassing early exit before regrouping against Panova.

It was Seles' first match since suffering a left forearm injury in last month's Fed Cup semifinals. The former top-ranked player has a 26-9 record and won the Bausch & Lomb Championships in April for her lone title of the year. Seles is 9-3 on hard courts in 1999.

Monday's first-round winners included ninth seed Barbara Schett of Austria, 10th seed Sandrine Testud of France, Likhovtseva, Rubin and 1991 champion Jennifer Capriati of the United States.

Jana Novotna of the Czech Republic is the fourth seed, followed by two-time champion Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario of Spain, Coetzer, Nathalie Tauziat of France and Williams, who won her third title of the year on Sunday.

The top eight seeds in the star-studded draw received byes into the second round. First prize is $150,000.