Hingis trounced No. 15 Elena Likhovtseva, 6-0, 6-3, in the third round to improve to 7-0 lifetime against the 25-year-old Russian.

Earlier, Davenport got past Nadia Petrova of Russia, 7-6 (7-3), 7-6 (7-3), in the second round. She is 2-0 against the 19-year-old Petrova, also beating her at last year's Ericsson Open.

Hingis has been the world's top ranked player for 200 weeks but is without a tournament victory in 5 1/2 months. She has not won a tournament since successive crowns in February at Doha and Dubai but has reached the semifinals in 12 of 14 events.

The 20-year-old was runner-up here in 1998 and has appeared in the semifinals three other times.

Last year, Davenport lost here in the final to Serena Williams. The 25-year-old enjoys playing in her home state, where she has captured seven of her 33 titles. She resides in Laguna Beach.

Williams, the fourth seed, takes the court against Australia's Nicole Pratt in an evening match.

Williams, 19, who grew up in Compton about 15 minutes away, is the two-time defending champion. She made her return from a month-long break Tuesday with a straight-sets win against fellow American Jennifer Hopkins, her first match since losing a heartbreaking three-set quarterfinal to Jennifer Capriati at Wimbledon last month.

French Open runner-up Kim Clijsters of Belgium is seeded third and was forced to rally past Cara Black of Zimbabwe, 4-6, 6-3, 6-1. Clijsters, 18, also was runner-up at Indian Wells and the Heineken Trophy this year.

No. 7 Elena Dementieva has reached the third round without taking the court. After a first-round bye, she advanced with a walkover over American Kristina Brandi, who withdrew due to right wrist tendinitis.

Dementieva improved to 3-0 all-time against Brandi, including a victory here in the same round last year en route to the semifinals.

No. 12 Amy Frazier of the United States also reached the third round with a 7-6 (7-5), 6-4 victory over unseeded Janette Husarova of Slovakia. Frazier is set to take on lucky loser Wynne Prakusya of Indonesia.