CARSON, California, 9 August 2007 — Sania Mirza capped a bad day for high seeds in the EastWest Bank Classic by knocking out No. 7 Martina Hingis, 6-2, 2-6, 6-4, in a second-round match Tuesday.

“You can’t let a player like her run away in the first set like that,” said Hingis, still bothered by hip and back injuries sustained earlier this season. She said she was tired in the third set while Sania got fresher.

Even so, Hingis rallied from a 40-0 deficit to get to deuce on Sania’s serve in the final game. But Sania, 20, took advantage of her fourth match point.

“She just went for broke on all the match points,” said Sania, ranked a career-high No. 30. “She made two big forehands, then went for a third one and just missed.”

Sania, who had knee surgery earlier in the year, turned a 2-3 deficit in the final set into a 5-3 lead.

“You’re playing Martina Hingis. You can’t expect to roll through 6-0 in the third set,” Sania said.

Hingis’ departure followed earlier second-round losses Tuesday. Marion Bartoli, at No. 6 the highest seed to have played, and No. 8 Dinara Safina were also ushered out.

Bartoli, a Wimbledon finalist, said she was “flat on the big points” and was beaten by Maria Kirilenko 7-6, 6-3. Safina lost to Kateryna Bondarenko 6-2, 7-5.

Safina had beaten Bondarenko in their previous three matches. But Bondarenko, No. 54 in the rankings, said history helped her.

“I decided not to be nervous,” she said. “I was like, ‘If I win, OK. If I don’t, OK.”’

Elena Dementieva opened her defense of the title with a 6-3, 6-1 victory over Ekaterina Makarova.

“It was a good start,” Dementieva said after the first-round match. “I never played against her (Makarova) and didn’t know what to expect. We had a really big fight in the first set, but I easily won the second one and it’s good to get some energy for (Wednesday).”

Dementieva came into this event after reaching the semifinals last week at the Acura Classic. The 25-year-old Russian is seeded only ninth because a nine-week layoff due to a right rib stress fracture dropped her out of the top 10 in the WTA Tour rankings.

She said she has fully recovered and is now focusing on this month’s US Open. “It’s about getting your confidence back, playing as many matches as I can before the US Open, to get the good level of the game for the big events,” Dementieva said. “I’m just happy it’s not bothering me anymore and just looking forward to finding the rhythm of the game and playing better.”

Dementieva, who won her seventh career title earlier this year, said it was a “special feeling” to be back as a defending champion. She could face No. 5 Daniela Hantuchova in the third round and top seed Maria Sharapova in the quarterfinals.

In other results, unseeded Michaella Krajicek and Gisela Dulko moved into the third round. Krajicek was a 6-4, 6-3 winner over Yuliana Fedak and will face the winner of Sharapova-Eleni Daniilidou match. Dulko beat Tamarine Tanasugarn, 6-1, 6-3, and will take on Kirilenko in the third round.

No. 10 seed Shahar Peer and No. 15 Katarina Srebotnik both advanced to the second round with straight-set wins, as did Peng Shuai, Victoria Azarenka, Mara Santangelo and Lilia Osterloh.

Ai Sugiyama needed three sets to turn aside Camille Pin, 5-7, 6-3, 6-3, and Daniilidou went three before claiming a 3-6, 6-2, 6-1 win over Aravane Rezai.

Djokovic Cruises Past

Kiefer at Rogers Cup

In Montreal, third-seeded Novak Djokovic defeated Nicolas Kiefer 6-3, 6-3 Tuesday to advance to the third round of the Rogers Cup.

“At the start of the match, I didn’t put a lot of first serves in and he tried to go to the net right away, be aggressive,” Djokovic said. “That was his style, but I managed to hold, stay focused and get it over in straight sets.”

James Blake held off Jurgen Melzer 7-5, 7-6 in a match that featured only one service break. Blake did not have to defend a single break point in the match, while Melzer fended off 13 of Blake’s 14 break points.

He will face Lleyton Hewitt in the second round.

“I haven’t seen too many matches where you look through and you see a sure win for anyone,” Blake said. “It’s a great testament to the depth of men’s tennis, how good these guys really are.”

Andy Murray, playing his first tournament since a right wrist injury sidelined him in May, defeated Robby Ginepri 6-4, 6-4.

Marat Safin advanced when Robin Soderling retired leading 2-1 in the first set. He will face second-seeded Spaniard Rafael Nadal for the first time in his career in the second round.

“What do I have to lose?” Safin said. “I’m not going to tank the match, I’m going to try to win it, of course. But I’m definitely not expecting anything great out of it.”

Sixth-seeded Fernando Gonzalez of Chile was upset by Radek Stepanek of the Czech Republic 6-7, 7-6, 6-4.

Tommy Haas advanced with a 6-3, 7-6 win over Agustin Calleri. Haas had 11 of the 24 aces in the match.

Jarkko Nieminen won 6-3, 6-4 over Julien Benneteau, Croatia’s Ivo Karlovic eliminated Max Mirnyi of Belarus 4-6, 6-3, 7-6, and Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus downed Spaniard Carlos Moya 7-6, 6-1.

There was only one Canadian player left in the singles draw after Frederic Niemeyer lost 6-4, 6-2 to Mario Ancic in the final match of the night.