She stared at an official after one shot, and cursed aloud in French after another.Davenport, ranked No. 2, breezed through the first set, and won the first two games of the second.It was her second match of the year, and 11th overall against Martinez. Davenport, who lost six straight matches to Martinez earlier in her career, has won three straight.”I have a lot of difficulty against players who change the speed of the ball,” Davenport said. “Over the last couple years, I’ve gotten to be a much better player at learning to deal with the short, low slices and high balls with a lot of spin.”Davenport broke serve in the first game, and overmatched Martinez with a powerful serve. She had two aces, won 11 straight points in the first set, and 12 of 14 in the second set.Martinez, the third seed, was seeking her first tournament title since winning the German Open. She lost her first match here last year to Julie Halard-Decugis.”I tried to play more aggressive, but anything I did, she hit with a winner,” Martinez said.Hingis rallied from double game-point to take a 3-1 lead in the second set. She came back from a triple game-point to win the seventh game.Tauziat, the fourth seed, twice took Hingis to 14 points.”I think she wanted to show me she can play the net,” Tauziat said.The 20-year-old Hingis beat Kournikova for her 35th singles title last month in Moscow.Davenport, 24, is coming off her 29th singles title – she won the Generali Ladies Open three weeks ago in Linz, Austria.

Davenport, who had a difficult summer battling injuries, snapped Venus Williams’ 35-match winning streak with her victory at Linz.. Top-ranked Martina Hingis beat Anna Kournikova 6-4, 6-0 on Friday to advance to the semifinals of the Advanta Championship in Villanova, Pennsylvania. Top-ranked Martina Hingis beat Anna Kournikova 6-4, 6-0 on Friday to advance to the semifinals of the Advanta Championship in Villanova, Pennsylvania.
Hingis took 18 minutes to finish off Kournikova in the second set, surrendering just seven points.”She played the same strokes and I reacted on it better,” Hingis said. “She didn’t have weapons anymore because I was always there and had a better answer.”Kournikova, the popular Russian ranked 10th in the world, failed to press Hingis after dropping the well-played first set.”A set like that takes a lot out of you and it’s difficult to get back on track when you lose,” Kournikova said.

“And with Martina, you know if you don’t win the first set it’s going to be tough. Then she’s really in control.”Hingis has advanced to the semifinals in seven straight tournaments, winning the last three and four of the last five.Hingis will face Nathalie Tauziat of France in the semifinals. Tauziat, seeded fourth, beat French compatriot Julie Halard-Decugis 6-4, 6-4.In the other quarterfinals, defending champion Lindsay Davenport beat seventh-seeded Amanda Coetzer of South Africa 6-1, 1-6, 6-1, and third-seeded Conchita Martinez of Spain defeated Holly Parkinson of the united States 6-2, 6-0.Davenport, ranked second in the world, double-faulted four times and fell behind 4-0 in the second set.”I haven’t had a lapse like that in a while,” Davenport said “I was just making too many mental errors She is a fighter. I thought it would be a tough match.”Davenport dropped serve in the second game of the final set, but regained control.

She ran off four aces to take a 4-1 lead, and Coetzer had trouble returning in the final two games.”I got my serve back and things started going well,” Davenport said “After I started hard, I began to put the pressure on her. She started to break.”The two matches featuring Hingis and Kournikova drew 5,341 fans, just short of the capacity 5,500. The combined crowd of 9,714 for the two sessions was the highest in the tournament’s five years in Villanova. It is moving to Nice, France, next year.Results from the $535,000 Advanta Championship WTA Tour tournament (seedings in parentheses):Singles QuarterfinalsLindsay Davenport (2), United States, def Amanda Coetzer (7), South Africa, 6-1, 1-6, 6-1 Conchita Martinez (3), Spain, def Holly Parkinson, United States, 6-2, 6-0 Nathalie Tauziat (4), France, def Julie Halard-Decugis, France, 6-4, 6-4 Martina Hingis (1), Switzerland, def. Anna Kournikova (6), Russia, 6-4, 6-0.Doubles QuarterfinalsJulie Halard-Decugis, France, and Ai Sugiyama (1), Japan, def. Lindsay Davenport and Kimberly Po, United States, 7-6 (4), 6-3. Lisa Raymond, United States, and Rennae Stubbs (3), Australia, def.