The fourth semi-finalist was unseeded Anne-Gaelle Sidot of France. The 49th ranked Sidot upset sixth seed Amanda Coetzer of South Africa 5-7 6-4 6-4.

Sidot, 20, rallied from a 4-6 1-4 deficit to beat the ninth-ranked Coetzer.

Hingis downed fifth-seeded Arantxa Sanchez Vicario of Spain 6-1 6-1, Seles overcame ninth-seeded Barbara Schett of Austria 6-3 3-6 6-1 and Pierce needed only three games to finish the resumption of Friday's match with her countrywoman Sandrine Testud, winning 6-1 6-3.

The $1.05 million WTA Tour event's semi-finals were due to be played later Saturday, with Seles meeting Sidot and Hingis taking on Pierce.

Hingis, ranked number one, needed only 52 minutes to continue her domination of the 10th-ranked Sanchez Vicario, winning for the 11th time in a row.

``I played very well and was very focused,'' Hingis said.

Asked about the weight training she has been doing the last month or so, Hingis smiled and said, ``I can get to the balls faster so I can speed them up. I have more power.''

In the Seles-Schett match, resumed at 1-1 after Friday's rain, the 16th-ranked Schett seemed to be taking control when she won the second set against an increasingly error-prone Seles.

But the 25-year-old American bore down early in the third set. She won the first four games as Schett suddenly was the one committing the unforced errors, 11 to just four for Seles in the final set.

The victory kept alive the fifth-ranked American's hopes for a fifth consecutive title and she has now won 23 Canadian Open matches in a row dating back to 1995. That was the year she made her highly publicized return to tennis after a 27-month absence following her stabbing in Hamburg on April 30, 1993.

Pierce was impressive in her one-sided victory over the 14th ranked Testud. ``The first three games yesterday (Friday), she played so well it was practically unreal,'' said a jocular Testud. ``She was hitting harder than the two Williamses (Serena and Venus) put together.''

The Coetzer-Sidot match was a roller coaster affair. After Sidot came back from 1-4 down in the second set, she streaked to a 5-1 lead in the final set. At 30-30 in the next game, she missed an overhead smash and Coetzer eventually closed the gap to 5-4.

In the final game, the lefthanded Sidot blasted two winners and finally won the match when Coetzer missed a backhand into the net.