Hingis - Kournikova open Chase Championships

World number 1 Swiss Martina Hingis was in action against Julie Halard-Decugis of France to earn a place in the quarter-finals. Hingis was looking to win a major tournament after going without winning a Grand Slam title this year for the first time since 1996.

The Chase Championships brings together the top 16 women for the annual season-ending tournament, worth 2 million dollars in prize money this year. The Chase Championships is set to move to Munich for financial reasons next year after 24 seasons at Madison Square Garden.

Hingis is looking to recapture the Chase title she relinquished to world number 2 Lindsay Davenport last year. Davenport, who beat Hingis in the Australian Open final this year, opens her campaign Wednesday against Russia's Elena Dementieva.

The tournament suffers from the absence of the popular Williams sisters. Both Venus Williams, who won both Wimbledon and the U.S. Open, and Serena Williams pulled out due to injuries.

Also in action Tuesday were seventh seed Russian Anna Kournikova who was playing Jennifer Capriati. Kournikova has never won at Madison Square Garden while Capriati was entered into the Championships for the first time since 1992. Earlier Tuesday, South African Amanda Coetzer defeated number 8 seeded American Chanda Rubin, 6-2, 6-1.

(la/dpa)