Frazier played aggressively and fearlessly before falling 7-6 (7-3), 6-4 in the $520,000 event. Hingis easily defeated Frazier earlier this year 6-1, 6-1 and felt she would have no problem the second time around.

``I think I underestimated her because the last time we played she won only two games,'' Hingis said. ``I was surprised by the way she played tonight.''

Hingis trailed 4-2 in the first set after having her service broken in two of her first three games. This was a common theme throughout the match as Frazier finished with five service breaks.

``Somehow she would pull off some return shots that were just unbelievable. I've never seen that before from her,'' Hingis said. ``She was putting pressure on my serve so I tried to slow it down, and then she would just kill me, so I had to mix it up.''

Hingis, the No. 1 seed, rallied to force a first-set tiebreaker, then won the final three games of the second set to advance to Saturday's semifinal against fourth-seeded Nathalie Tauziat of France, who defeated local favorite Lisa Raymond of Wayne, Pa., 7-6 (7-3), 6-4.

Frazier was happy, and surprised, with her return game against Hingis.

``I felt really good on the return today. It was probably just luck,'' she said.

Third-seeded Venus Williams will meet No. 2-seeded Lindsay Davenport in the other semifinal Saturday afternoon after each defeated a Frenchwoman to set up an intriguing semifinal.

Williams ousted Sandrine Testud 6-1, 7-6 (9-7), while Davenport dispatched eighth-seeded Julie Halard-Decugis 4-6, 6-2, 6-1 in the first of the day's four quarterfinal matches.

On Saturday afternoon, Williams will square off with Davenport, the player she is chasing in the world rankings. With a victory here and a better finish in next week's season-ending Chase Championships in New York, No. 3 Williams can move ahead of Davenport.

Williams and Davenport have split four career matches with Williams taking the last two.

``I'll have nothing to lose,'' Williams said. ``I just hope to play well, have fun and relax.''

Williams, playing just her second match in three weeks, prevailed in a hard-fought second set, one that concluded with a spectacular tiebreaker.

They were tied 7-7 when the unseeded Testud slapped a relatively simple forehand into the net. Williams took the next point easily for her third victory in three meetings with the world's 14th-ranked player.

``That second set was a little exciting. There were some great points,'' Williams said. ``But naturally I would liked to have had it a little easier.''

Davenport, her serve not working for much of the match, used superior groundstrokes to wear down Halard-Decugis. Runnerup in this event the last two years, the second-seeded and usually unflappable Davenport became visibly frustrated by her inability to land her first serves in the opening two sets. She managed to eventually pull away by keeping the Frenchwoman on the run with two-handed backhands and looping forehands deep into the blue Supreme Court's corners.

``She definitely returns very well, especially when's she's facing a lot of second serves like she was in those first two sets,'' Davenport said. Both players appeared content to stay on the baselines in the 90-minute match.