Hingis Advances at Pan Pacific Open

TOKYO (AP) _ Martina Hingis overpowered Nicole Pratt 6-1, 7-5 Wednesday to advance to the quarterfinals of the Pan Pacific Open. <br/><br/>Hingis overcame a shaky second set at Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium

Wednesday, January 31st 2007, 6:03 am

By: News On 6

TOKYO (AP) _ Martina Hingis overpowered Nicole Pratt 6-1, 7-5 Wednesday to advance to the quarterfinals of the Pan Pacific Open.

Hingis overcame a shaky second set at Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium to win the second-round match.

``I was pretty confident coming in,'' the second-seeded Hingis said. ``I had a little difficulty closing it out and that was more mental than anything but she made some good shots and I think I did well to close out the match.''

Hingis, who had a first-round bye, won the Tokyo tournament in 1997, 1999, 2000 and 2002.

``This surface really suits my game,'' said Hingis, who had four aces. ``If you can play offensively and come in every now and then it can really help you and that's what I've done in the past.''

Top-seeded Maria Sharapova of Russia, who won the 2005 Pan Pacific, has a first-round bye along with defending champion Elena Dementieva and will play her first match of the $1.3 million tournament on Thursday.

Sharapova will face Italy's Francesca Schiavone in the second round. Schiavone defeated Japanese wild card Erika Takao 7-5, 7-5 on Tuesday.

In first-round matches Wednesday, Maria Kirilenko of Russia cruised to a 6-2, 6-3 win over seventh-seeded Shahar Peer of Israel and Russia's Elena Likhovtseva beat Argentina's Gisela Dulko 6-3, 6-2.

China's Zheng Jie defeated American Bethanie Mattek 6-2, 6-1, and Italy's Mara Santangelo beat Japan's Aiko Nakamura 7-5, 6-0.

Samantha Stosur of Australia defeated Vera Zvonareva of Russia 6-4, 6-7 (4), 6-4.