Hingis, the top seed, eliminated hometown favorite Ai Sugiyami, 6-0, 5-7, 6-2 on Thursday. Hingis owns a lifetime 5-1 mark over Sugiyama, with three of those wins coming in this tournament.

However, the last two times Hingis and Sugiyami met here, the Swiss native needed three sets to pull out the victory.

Hingis will meet No. 8 Magdalena Maleeva of Bulgaria in the semifinals. Maleeva also had to defeat a Japanese native to advance, posting a 6-1, 7-6 (7-1) victiory over Shinobu Asagoe.

Asagoe failed to make it two straight victories over seeded players after upsetting fourth seed Amanda Coetzer of South Africa in three hard-fought sets on Wednesday.

Second seeded Davenport of the United States had the easiest time, advancing with a 6-2, 6-0 victoy over Croation Iva Majoli. Davenport and Majoli had split their previous eight matches, with Majoli defeating Davenport the only other time they met on a carpeted surface.

The 24-year-old Davenport is making her sixth straight appearance at this tournament, taking the title in 1998 and finishing second in 1995.

In the other quarterfinal match on Thursday, No. 3 Anna Kournikova of Russia needed three sets to eliminate France's Anne-Gaelle Sidot, 6-0, 5-7, 6-2. Kournikova, who was appearing in the quarterfinals here for the third time, will face Davenport.

First prize at the $1.188 million event is $175,000.