SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (AP) -- Martina Hingis, peeved about her fall to No. 5 in the world, beat Stephanie Foretz 6-2, 6-4 Wednesday to reach the quarterfinals of the State Farm Women's Tennis Classic.

Hingis, 15-1 in singles this year, made it to the Scottsdale final in 2000 before her championship match with Lindsay Davenport was rained out.

``I'm happy about this round,'' she said. ``I was very focused, very concentrated. I served pretty good and my backhand was working pretty well.''

The second-seeded Hingis will play No. 8 Daja Bedanova, a 6-2, 6-3 victor over Silvija Talaja, on Friday.

In other action, Nicole Pratt reached her third quarterfinal this year and the ninth of career by defeating Ai Sugiyama 6-2, 6-3.

She will play the winner of a night match between third-seeded Serena Williams and qualifier Alina Jidkova.

Hingis held the WTA's No. 1 ranking for 209 weeks between March 1997 and October 2001. That month, she tore ligaments in her right ankle during a semifinal in Filderstadt and had season-ending surgery.

She started well this year, winning her 39th and 40th career titles at Sydney and Tokyo and reaching a sixth straight Australian Open final before a three-set loss to Jennifer Capriati. But she skipped title defenses in Doha and Dubai, and a points shortage left her ranked fourth -- her lowest since 1996 -- last week.

She dropped to fifth this week as Venus Williams became the 10th woman to hold No. 1 since computer rankings began in 1975.

``It's still early in the season for me to drop to No. 5,'' Hingis said. ``I can't believe it, but it's only a few points. If I do well at this tournament, maybe I can get back to 3, which is at this point (where) I belong.''

Hingis prevailed in a 63-minute match, holding service in both sets and breaking Foretz in the third and seventh games of the first and the fifth game of the second.

Facing double match point in the 10th game of the second set, Foretz got back to 40-30 with an overhand smash. But on the next match point, Hingis won when Foretz put a cross-court backhand into the net.