Hingis, the top seed and defending champion, advanced to the round of eight on Wednesday with a 6-3, 7-5 win over American Lisa Raymond. Kournikova, seeded fifth, reached the quarterfinals here for the second straight year by pulling out a 6-2, 1-6, 6-1 win over Nicole Pratt of Australia on Thursday.

In other quarterfinal matchups, third seed Nathalie Tauziat meets sixth seed Sandrine Testud in an all-French battle, and fourth seed Amanda Coetzer of South Africa, last year's runner-up, encounters seventh seed Chanda Rubin of the United States.

Also, American lucky loser Lilia Osterloh, who stunned second seed Mary Pierce in three sets on Thursday, faces unseeded Katarina Srebotnik of Slovenia.

A winner of 26 career singles titles, Hingis was denied a sixth Grand Slam singles crown on Saturday as American Lindsay Davenport defeated the Swiss teenager in the Australian Open final.

The 19-year-old Hingis also won this event in 1997 and was runner-up to Davenport two years ago.

Kournikova still is searching for her first career singles title, having failed to win in two career finals. One of the Russian starlet's runner-up finishes came last year at Hilton Head, South Carolina, when Hingis prevailed, 6-4, 6-3.

"I want to win my first tournament for me, not because of any pressure I feel," said Kournikova, who teamed with Hingis to win last year's Australian Open doubles title. "I know it will come and I'm working on it."

Kournikova, 18, is coming off a fourth-round loss to Davenport at the Australian Open.

First prize at this indoor event is $166,000.