Carson, August 8:

Sania Mirza, ranked a career-high No 30, capped a bad day for high seeds in the East West Bank Classic by knocking out No 7 Martina Hingis, 6-2, 2-6, 6-4, in a second-round match

here on 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 Mirza got fresher. Hingis’ departure followed earlier second-round losses on Tuesday. Marion Bartoli, at No 6, 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 (2), 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.

Elena Dementieva opened her defense of the title with a 6-3, 6-1 victory over Ekaterina Makarova. Dementieva came into this event after reaching the semi-finals 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.

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 quarter-finals.

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. 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 claimed a 3-6, 6-2, 6-1 win over Aravane Rezai.