Kournikova Upset, Serena Wins

March 12, 2000 / 12:43 AM EST / CBS/AP

Defending champion Serena Williams beat Italy's Rita Grande 4-6, 6-1, 6-2 on Sunday to advance to the quarterfinals of the Tennis Master Series.

"I didn't play my game right away. I made too many errors," said Williams, the U.S. Open champion who is seeded third in the $2 million tournament at the new Indian Wells Tennis Garden.

"I knew I had to come to the net more against this kind of player. If I had stayed back, we'd still be out there."

Williams will face Belgium's Kim Clisters in the quarterfinals. Clisters beat Russia's Tatiana Panova 6-3, 7-6 (6).

Top-seeded Martina Hingis and No. 2 Lindsay Davenport also won third-round matches. Hingis routed Japan's Ai Sugiyama 6-1, 6-2, and Davenport beat Belarus' Natasha Zvereva 6-4, 6-2.

Hingis will face 10th-seeded Barbara Schett of Austria, a 6-2, 6-1 winner over Poland's Magdalena Grybowska. Davenport will play France's Julie Halard-Decugis , a 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 winner over Romania's Ruxandra Dragomir.

Fourth-seeded Nathalie Tauziat and eighth-seeded Anna Kournikova of Russia were eliminated. Slovakia's Karina Habsudova beat Tauziat 6-4, 6-4, and France's Nathalie Dechy edged Kournikova 7-5, 5-7, 7-6 (7-5).

Sixth-seeded Conchita Martinez of Spain and seventh-seeded Monica Seles won their matches. Martinez beat Australia's Jelena Dokic 6-2, 7-6 (4), and Seles routed Switzerland's Patty Schnyder, 60, 6-3.