American Monica Seles begins her bid for a fifth straight title at this event when she faces Russian qualifier Tatiana Panova in a second-round match Tuesday night.

Three other seeds advanced to the third round earlier Tuesday. 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 her 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.

Tuesday night, No. 15 Elena Likhovtseva of Russia faces Maureen Drake, Canada's top player.

Three seeds were eliminated in opening-round play earlier Tuesday. 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.

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 upcoming 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.

Seles has not competed since suffering a left forearm injury in last month's Fed Cup semifinals. The former top-ranked player has a 25-9 record and won the Bausch & Lomb Championships in April for her lone title of the year. Seles is 8-3 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 Sunday.