TOKYO, Oct. 4 (UPI) -- Top seeds Lleyton Hewitt and Monica Seles dominated their opponents Thursday to advance at the Japan Open.
Hewitt remained on a roll, posting a 6-1, 6-1 rout of No. 15 Michael Russell of the United States to reach the quarterfinals.
Seles enjoyed an easy 6-1, 6-2 victory over sixth seed Rita Grande of Italy to move into the semifinals.
Hewitt, 20, has won 11 straight matches. In addition to capturing his first career Grand Slam event at the U.S. Open last month, the Australian also won both of his singles matches to help his nation beat Sweden and reach the Davis Cup final for the third straight year.
Hewitt will face eighth seed Francisco Clavet in the quarterfinals. The Spaniard got past 11th seed Nicolas Massu of Chile, 6-3, 6-4, to reach the last eight.
Seles has reached four finals this season, winning in Oklahoma City and last month in Brazil, and advanced to the semifinals at three other events before this week.
Men's second seed Sjeng Schalken of the Netherlands continued the defense of his title with a 6-2, 6-4 victory over Ivo Heuberger of Switzerland. He will face another Swiss opponent in the quarterfinals. No. 5 Michel Kratochvil dismissed No. 9 Lars Burgsmuller of Germany, 6-3, 6-2.
Rainer Schuettler, the third seed, will not advance to his third straight ATP final. Slovakia's Karol Kucera stunned the German, 6-2, 6-2. Schuettler claimed the Shanghai title two week ago before falling to Marcelo Rios of Chile in the championship match at Hong Kong.
Kucera will take on Takao Suzuki of Japan, who upset No. 6 Michael Chang of the United States, 7-6 (7-3), 6-2.
The other quarterfinal pits Rios, the seventh seed here, against American James Blake. Rios handled Danai Udomchoke of Thailand, 6-3, 6-2, while Blake surprised No. 4 Jonas Bjorkman of Sweden, 6-1, 7-5.
In other women's second-round action, second seed Tamarine Tanasugarn of Thailand held on to beat American Jill Craybas, 6-4, 4-6, 6-3. Her quarterfinal opponent is Japanese wild-card entrant Saori Obata, who posted a 6-1, 5-7, 6-3 upset win over fifth seed Marlene Weingarter of Germany.
No. 8 Joannette Kruger rallied from a set down to edge Nicole Pratt of Australia, 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7-3). The South African will meet Switzerland's Emmanuelle Gagliardi, who defeated Wynne Prakusya of Indonesia, 6-3, 1-6, 7-5.
