A runner-up in her last two tournaments, Hingis defeated Maria Alejandra Vento of Venezuela, 7-6 (7-4), 6-1, to improve her season record to 18-2.

Hingis was one of four seeded players to secure berths in Friday's quarterfinals.

Third seed Sandrine Testud of France, a finalist at Canberra last month, downed Selima Sfar of Tunisia, 6-3, 6-4. Testud's quarterfinal opponent will be sixth seed Henrieta Nagyova of Slovakia, who dispatched Marlene Weingartner of Germany, 6-3, 6-3.

Eighth seed Joannette Kruger of South Africa set up a quarterfinal meeting with Hingis by getting past Annabel Ellwood of Australia, 6-3, 3-6, 6-2.

At the Australian Open, Hingis lost to Jennifer Capriati in the final after defeating sisters Venus and Serena Williams in her previous two matches. One week later, the 20-year-old from Switzerland advanced to the final at the Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo, but suffered a three-set loss to world No. 2 Lindsay Davenport.

Before her consecutive runner-up finishes, Hingis led Switzerland to the Hopman Cup and won the adidas International in Sydney the following week.

In Friday's other quarterfinal matchups, fourth seed Barbara Schett of Austria will face 16-year-old Lina Krasnoroutskaya of Russia, and unseeded players Kristie Boogert of the Netherlands and Adriana Gersi of the Czech Republic will square off. All four advanced on Wednesday, with Gersi eliminating second seed Mary Pierce of France in three sets.

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