ROME (TICKER) -- Top seed Martina Hingis of Switzerland and No. 3 Conchita Martinez of Spain cruised into the quarterfinals Thursday at the Italian Open.
Hingis got past Elena Likhovtseva of Russia, 6-4, 6-3, while Martinez had an even easier time dispatching Denisa Chladkova of the Czech Republic, 6-0, 6-1.
Hingis set up a quarterfinal meeting with No. 7 seed Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario, who ousted Russia's Lina Krasnoroutskaya, 6-1, 6-2.
The winner will join Steffi Graf and Martina Navratilova as the only women's players to crack the $16 million mark in career earnings.
"Arantxa is 14 years on the Tour and I'm only half of the years and I have the same amount," Hingis said. "You can see how the business has grown."
Hingis has won 16 of 18 career matches against Sanchez-Vicario, including five of seven meetings on clay. But the two players have split their two matches this year.
Sanchez-Vicario posted a 6-2, 6-4 victory at Amelia Island for her first win over Hingis in five years, but Hingis gained a measure of revenge last week with a 6-4, 7-6 (7-4) triumph in the quarterfinals at Berlin.
Martinez, who captured four straight Italian Open titles from 1993-96, has dropped only four games en route to the final eight.
In Friday's quarterfinals, Martinez will take on unseeded Francesca Schiavone of Italy, who got past Russia's Nadia Petrova, 7-5, 6-4.
No. 4 seed Amelie Mauresmo of France, who is seeking her second straight title after winning the German Open last week, moved into the quarterfinals with a 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 decision over Slovakia's Daniela Hantuchova.
The hottest player on tour, Mauresmo improved her 2001 match record to 28-2, including 13-1 on clay. She beat top seed Hingis and fourth seed Jennifer Capriati en route to the title at the German Open, her fourth victory of the year.
Trying to cool off Mauresmo will be Argentina's Paola Suarez, the No. 17 seed who defeated Swizterland's Emmanuelle Gagliardi, 6-4, 6-2. Suarez captured her second career title this year at Bogota.
Friday's final quarterfinal pits No. 14 seed Jelena Dokic of Yugoslavia against South Africa's Joannette Kruger.
The 18-year-old Dokic topped Hungary's Rita Kuti Kis, 6-3, 6-3, to reach the quarterfinals of the Italian Open for the second straight year. Kruger needed three sets to hold off Spain's Gala Leon Garcia, 2-6, 6-4, 6-4.
Capriati, the second seed, had a bye into the second round but suffered her second straight loss, falling to Kuti Kis on Wednesday.
Capriati reached the finals in five of her first seven events in 2001 and had compiled a 27-5 record heading into Wednesday's contest but matched her earliest exit from a tournament this year. She lost in the second round at Sydney, Australia in January.
First prize at the $1.2 million event is $176,000.
