After needing 43 minutes to close out the first set, Hingis needed only 21 in the second to record a 6-4, 6-1 victory over her 78th-ranked opponent from China.

Martina Navratilova, who Hingis is named after, returns to the All-England Club today after a five-year absence.

The 43-year-old Navratilova will team up with South African Mariaan de Swardt to take on Lubomira Bacheva of Bulgaria and Amanda Hopmans of the Netherlands in a first-round doubles match.

On the men's side, top seed Pete Sampras of the United States looks to avoid the rash of upsets that occurred today, but could have a battle on his hands when he encounters Karol Kucera of Slovakia, who upset Andre Agassi in the second round at the French Open.

Earlier today, French Open runner-up Magnus Norman of Sweden could not translate his claycourt success at Roland Garros to the grass at the All-England Club. The third seed was stunned by 19-year-old Belgian qualifier Olivier Rochus, 6-4, 2-6, 6-4, 6-7 (4-7), 6-1.

In other upsets, Belarussian qualifier Vladimir Voltchkov eliminated 1997 runner-up and sixth seed Cedric Pioline of France, 6-3, 6-3, 2-6, 3-6, 6-4, and Wayne Ferreira of South Africa surprised 1996 champion Richard Krajicek of the Netherlands, the 11th seed, 5-7, 6-3, 6-3, 7-6 (7-3).

Ninth seed Thomas Enqvist of Sweden managed to reach the third round as he got past Francisco Clavet of Spain, 7-6 (7-2), 7-6 (8-6), 7-5.

Two days after stopping a 21-match losing streak by eliminating local favorite Greg Rusedski, American Vincent Spadea was defeated by Spain's Albert Portas, 6-4, 6-3, 6-3.

Another American coming off an impressive win was Jan-Michael Gambill, who defeated Fabrice Santoro of France, 4-6, 6-4, 6-2, 6-2. Gambill knocked off seventh seed Lleyton Hewitt of Australia on Wednesday.

On the women's side, French Open finalist Conchita Martinez of Spain, the fourth seed and 1994 champion, was stunned by 79th-ranked Sonya Jeyaseelan of Canada, 6-4, 6-1, in just over an hour. This was Martinez's earliest Wimbledon exit since falling in the second round in her debut in 1992.

On the other hand, sisters Venus and Serena Williams had no trouble winning their second-round matches. Seeded fifth, Venus Williams dumped Ai Sugiyama of Japan, 6-1, 6-4, and Serena Williams, seeded eighth, crushed Yvette Basting of the Netherlands, 6-1, 6-0, in only 33 minutes.

The reigning U.S. Open champion needed just 33 minutes to dispatch the 186th-ranked Basting, who managed only four points in a second set which lasted only 12 minutes. One of those points was a double fault by Williams.

"My opponent tried her best and you can't ask for more than that," Serena Williams said. "At least it (second set) gave me an opportunity to start coming into the net and close out points that way."

After missing last year's event with the flu, the 18-year-old Serena Williams repeated her 1998 run as she secured her place in the third round.

Germany's Anke Huber, the 11th seed, needed three sets to get past Britain's Louise Latimer, 5-7, 6-3, 6-3. Huber, who overcame eight double faults and 33 unforced errors, had 32 winners.