Hingis advanced to the third round of the $1.08 million event, ending the match in 50 minutes by winning an exchange of volleys at the net.

Hingis, coming back from a month layoff, won the Betty Barclay Cup last week and also regained the top-ranking from Lindsay Davenport.

``The win last week gave me a lot of confidence,'' Hingis said. ``You feel easy-going when you're coming off a title and you're No. 1.''

Spain's Conchita Martinez, the 1998 winner who is seeded third, also advanced easily. She beat Sylvia Plischke 6-0 in the first set before the Austrian withdrew.

In other action, 10th-seeded Amanda Coetzer of South Africa beat Tatiana Poutchek of Belarus 6-1, 6-0; No. 15 Chanda Rubin defeated Barbara Rittner of Germany 6-1, 6-4; and American Corina Morariu downed Andrea Glass of Germany 6-1, 6-0.

Hingis would have beaten the overmatched Gagliardi -- ranked 68th -- even quicker if she hadn't dropped two games when leading 5-0 in the second set.

But Gagliardi, who had trouble handling her friend's drop shots and pressure, suddenly began landing a hard first serve and driving shots deep for winners.

``It got harder because she played aggressively, but after two games, I thought I should close things out,'' Hingis said. ``For a first match, I'm satisfied. Not everything can work, but I tried a few things out.''

Hingis, the defending champion, faces a depleted field after Davenport chose not to enter and Serena Williams withdrew with an injured left leg.

Most of the top players like France's Natalie Tauziat, who has climbed to third in the world, Spain's Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario and Russia's Anna Kournikova play their first matches Wednesday.

Hingis is her 137th week at No. 1, placing her fifth on the all-time list behind Steffi Graf, Martina Navratilova, Chris Evert and Monica Seles.