Top seed Kim Clijsters, who is hoping to overtake Serena Williams this week as the world's top-ranked female tennis player, cruised past Emilie Loit 6-1, 6-1 in her opening match of the WTA tournament in Los Angeles yesterday.
But it was a bad day for her partner, Australian Lleyton Hewitt, who
toppled out of the Montreal Masters Series, losing 5-7, 7-6, 5-7 to the powerful- serving Max Mirnyi in a laborious match.
For Clijsters it was an easy victory as she took 11 of the final 12 games in front of about 400 fans at centre court.
Under sunny hot conditions, she hammered four aces and broke Loit's serve five times, including three times in the second set.
"I feel like I have been playing good tennis for the past few weeks," Clijsters said. Her overpowering win sets up a third-round clash with Nadia Petrova or her Russian compatriot Maria Sharapova.
Clijsters has a 3-0 career record against France's Loit, but this was the first time she had beaten her on hardcourts.
She is using this tournament as a warm-up for the US Open this month. "I am going to slow down a bit in the next few tournaments and concentrate on singles."
Clijsters said the No.1 ranking was in the back of her mind.
"I am thinking about it and when it comes, if it comes, I will enjoy it, but I am not there yet," she said.
Williams, the US Open defending champion, had surgery on the quadriceps muscle near her left knee last week and will miss six to eight weeks.
Second seed Lindsay Davenport also advanced yesterday, cruising past Barbara Schett, of Austria, 6-3, 6-1.
Fifth seed Jelena Dokic continued to struggle, winning the first set before falling to unseeded Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-4, 6-7 (5-7), 3-6.
Hewitt, the fifth seed, was undone by Mirnyi, of Belarus, the world No 32, who remained calm as he seized his chance.
"I was confident because when you find yourself in a three-set situation with a top player, it's an indication you are doing something well," said Mirnyi, who won his first title this year in Rotterdam.
Hewitt said he was overwhelmed by the serves and volleys of his 26 year-old opponent.
Mirnyi will face Thailand's Paradorn Srichaphan in the third round after the 11th seed beat Canada's Daniel Nestor 7-5, 6-4.
Top seed and world No 1 Andre Agassi had an early scare against Russia's Nikolay Davydenko, before cruising to a 7-6 (7-3), 6-2 win.
Second seed Juan Carlos Ferrero strolled into the third round with a swift 6-3, 6-4 win over Morocco's Younes El Aynaoui.
Ferrero had lost his six previous encounters against El Aynaoui.
- AGENCIES
Top seed Kim Clijsters, who is hoping to overtake Serena Williams this week as the world's top-ranked female tennis player, cruised past Emilie Loit 6-1, 6-1 in her opening match of the WTA tournament in Los Angeles yesterday.
But it was a bad day for her partner, Australian Lleyton Hewitt, who
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