Hingis has reached the final of her last two tournaments, but has come up short each time. At the Australian Open, she lost to Jennifer Capriati in the final after defeating sisters Venus and Serena Williams in her previous two matches.

One week later, Hingis advanced to the final at the Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo, but suffered a three-set loss to world No. 2 Lindsay Davenport.

Overall, the 20-year-old Hingis has compiled a 17-2 record in 2001, leading Switzerland to the Hopman Cup in her season debut and winning the adidas International in Sydney the following week.

French Open champion Mary Pierce, the second seed, will look to bounce back from a lackluster performance in her home country last week.

Pierce was dismissed by Luxembourg's Anne Kremer in the second round at the Open Gaz de France, her earliest exit in three tournaments this season as she continues her comeback from shoulder problems. She began 2001 with a semifinal showing at the Canberra International in Australia.

Hingis and Pierce received first-round byes.

Sandrine Testud of France, who has dropped three of her last four matches, is seeded third and will face Miriam Oremans of the Netherlands in the first round Wednesday.

On Tuesday, fourth seed Barbara Schett of Austria will take on Nadejda Ostrovskaya of Belarus in an opening-round encounter.

Fifth seed Tamarine Tanasugarn of Thailand advanced to the second round on Monday with a 6-2, 6-3 win over Pavlina Nola of Bulgaria.

Tanasugarn's second-round opponent will be Kristie Boogert of the Netherlands, who dispatched Sandra Nacuk of Yugoslavia, 6-2, 6-4.

Rounding out the top eight seeds are Henrieta Nagyova of Slovakia, Rita Grande of Italy and Joannette Kruger of South Africa.

First prize at this hardcourt event is $27,000.