Hingis To Play Serena Williams

SYDNEY, Australia (AP) â€” Martina Hingis swept Kim Clijsters 6-4, 6-4 Wednesday, setting up a quarterfinal with Serena Williams at the Adidas International. <br><br>Anna Kournikova and Jennifer Capriati

Wednesday, January 10th 2001, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

SYDNEY, Australia (AP) â€” Martina Hingis swept Kim Clijsters 6-4, 6-4 Wednesday, setting up a quarterfinal with Serena Williams at the Adidas International.

Anna Kournikova and Jennifer Capriati did not fare as well as Hingis, the world's No. 1 player.

Corina Morariu of the United States defeated the sixth-seeded Kournikova 6-2, 6-1, and Lisa Raymond ousted fellow American Jennifer Capriati 2-6, 6-3, 7-5 in second-round upsets at this Australian Open tuneup.

In the men's draw, top-seeded Magnus Norman defeated Australia's Todd Woodbridge 6-3, 6-1 to advance to a quarterfinal against George Bastl of Switzerland. Bastl ousted No. 5 Arnaud Clement of France 5-7, 6-2, 6-2.

Hingis complained she felt ``a little lame'' from her demanding first-round doubles win Tuesday night in which she teamed with Monica Seles to beat Venus and Serena Williams.

After a first-round bye, Hingis admitted she wasn't at her best against Clijsters, although she was surprised to receive a caution from the chair umpire.

Hingis denied receiving any advice from her mother and coach, Melanie Molitor, who was sitting in the stands. She said it was natural for people to yell support.

Hingis trailed 4-2 with Clijsters serving before reeling off four straight games to take the first set. She saved two break points at 3-4 in the second, then broke the Belgian before closing out on serve.

Williams, seeded fifth, routed compatriot Brie Rippner 6-1, 6-2 and next faces Hingis. The 19-year-old American said a tough match against Hingis was ideal preparation for the season-opening Grand Slam.

``Obviously, we're both great competitors ... we're going to bring our best out so we can see where we need to improve for next week,'' she said.

Morariu defeated Kournikova in 46 minutes and was surprised to beat a top 10 player so easily. She called the victory ``one of biggest wins you can have.''

Kournikova said it just wasn't her day.

``Maybe that's good to give me a couple of days just to practice,'' the 19-year-old Russian said.

Capriati was on target for a quarterfinals berth â€” serving for the match at 5-4 in the third â€” before she lost three consecutive games.

In other second-round matches, No. 2 Lindsay Davenport defeated Austria's Barbara Schett 6-3, 6-3, and defending champ Amelie Mauresmo downed South Africa's Amanda Coetzer 7-5, 7-5.

Mauresmo meets No. 3 Seles in the quarterfinals; Morariu takes on No. 4 Conchita Martinez of Spain; and Davenport faces Raymond.

Among the men, defending champion Lleyton Hewitt won 6-4, 6-1 over fellow Aussie Andrew Ilie. Hewitt dropped just 10 points in the second set to move into a quarterfinal against Fabrice Santoro of France, who topped Gianluca Pozzi of Italy 7-5, 7-5.

Sebastien Grosjean of France defeated Christophe Rochus of Belgium 3-6, 6-4, 6-1 and will meet Roger Federer. Federer had a 6-1, 6-2 win over Swiss compatriot Marc Rosset.

Rainer Schuttler upset No. 7 seed Tommy Haas in an all-German match, fighting back from 0-4 in the second set for a 7-6, 7-6 (8) won on his third match point. Haas won the AAPT Championship in Adelaide last week and was among the favorites in Sydney.

Sweden's Jonas Bjorkman defeated Australia's Jason Stoltenberg 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (3) and will play Schuttler in the quarterfinals.