Frazier had not defeated Hingis in their previous four meetings but she had little trouble disposing of the winningest player on the WTA Tour this season in a match that was temporarily delayed by a courtside lighting problem.

A native of St. Louis, the 27-year-old Frazier is one victory away from her first final of the year. She is a six-time tournament winner, most recently claiming the Japan Open in 1999.

Frazier has her work cut out for her in the semifinals, where she will meet red-hot American Venus Williams, the third seed who has won 13 straight matches.

The Wimbledon champion blitzed fifth seed Conchita Martinez of Spain, 6-3, 6-0, earlier today, moving within eight of American Lindsay Davenport's WTA season-best 21-match winning streak.

In other second-round action today, sixth seeded Nathalie Tauziat of France advanced to the quarterfinals with a 6-1, 6-2 victory over Elena Likhovtseva of Russia.

No. 8 Sandrine Testud of France also advanced to the quarters with a 6-2, 6-3 victory over Russian Tatiana Panova, setting up a quarterfinal matchup with fourth-seeded American Monica Seles.

Frazier set up her quarterfinal with Hingis by outdueling Nathalie Dechy of France in three sets. She eliminated seventh seed Anke Huber of Germany on Tuesday.

A winner of over $2 million on the WTA Tour, Frazier reached the quarterfinals in Stanford last week before losing to Williams. She won the first set and was up a break in the second set but lost the third set in a tiebreaker.

Williams began her quest for a third straight singles title with a straight-sets victory over Amanda Coetzer of South Africa on Wednesday night. She defeated Davenport for the second straight week on Sunday, claiming the title at the Bank of the West Classic.

The 20-year-old Williams has a 19-3 record in six tournaments since returning from wrist tendinitis. But it was her previous two events that showed she is back to 100 percent.

At Wimbledon, Williams defeated Hingis, younger sister Serena and Davenport to capture her first Grand Slam singles title.

Last week at Stanford, she dropped only one set en route to her second straight title. She scored her most convincing win against Davenport and showed she is a threat to make it two Grand Slams in a row when the U.S. Open begins August 28.

Hingis began defense of her title Tuesday by downing Dominique Van Roost of Belgium in straight sets. She has four titles this year, most recently winning the Heineken Trophy in the Netherlands in late June.

Tauziat will have a quarterfinal meeting with Russian teenager Anna Kournikova, who stunned Davenport in the second round on Wednesday night, 2-6, 6-4, 7-5.

Kournikova, 19, is one win away from matching her best showing of the season, two from her third career finals appearance and three from her elusive first professional title.

First prize is $87,000.