The former world no. 1 from Switzerland ousted 11th-seeded Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia 7-5, 6-4 on Thursday night to advance to the quarter-finals of the $1.34 million US tournament that has been thinned by withdrawals and injuries.

Hingis will face the next best-known player still in the field, fourth-seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia, in Friday's quarter-finals. The two have split two meetings this season.

Kuznetsova downed Ai Sugiyama of Japan 6-2, 7-6 (6).

``It seems that all week people have been withdrawing, but in my section (of the draw), no one wants to retire,'' Hingis said with a laugh. ``The main thing is there's still eight great players out there.''

``I've had some great matches with Kuznetsova and I know I'll have to come out with my best.''

The seventh-seeded Hingis saved three set points to break Hantuchova's serve for a 6-5 lead and needed four set points to put the first set away. She was up 4-1 in the second, but then had to battle to put the match away.

Hingis, who won the tournament in 1999 and 2000, returned to the WTA Tour this season after three years of nursing foot and ankle injuries and looks to be returning to form.

Two more players withdrew with injuries _ Nicole Vaidisova of the Czech Republic and Jelena Jankovic of Slovenia _ and local attraction Stephanie Dubois of Laval, Que., was knocked out in two sets by 14th-seeded Katarina Srebotnik.

Dubois' dream week ended with a 6-3, 6-2 loss in the third round despite enthusiastic support from the centre court crowd.

``I'm really proud of myself and how I played this week,'' said Dubois, 19, the first Canadian to reach the round of 16 since Vancouver's Patricia Hy-Boulais in 1992.

``She played a great match. She's in the top 20 in the world and I went on the court and gave it my all.''

Dubois, ranked No. 151, beat Tathiana Garbin of Italy in a first round match played over two days due to rain, then got the win over top-seeded Kim Clijsters when the Belgian was forced to retire in the second set with a left wrist injury on Wednesday night.

Friday's other semifinals have Srebotnik against 13th-seeded Ana Ivanovic of Serbia; Nicole Pratt of Australia against ninth-seeded Dinara Safina of Russia; and Shahar Peer of Israel against Anna Chakvetadze of Russia.

An event already missing many top players who were either injured or elected not to play got even thinner when fifth-seeded Vaidisova and unseeded Jankovic both pulled out with sore right shoulders.

``I'm not injured, I'm just preventing it from getting injured,'' said Vaidisova. ``It's too close to the U.S. Open to risk anything further.

``I've done this before and I've learned from my mistakes. I just really want to make sure nothing happens. I still have a long career ahead of me. I'm 17 and my health is my No. 1 priority.''

Vaidisova said she would rehab the injury and try to be ready for the U.S. Open in less than two weeks.

Clijsters, the defending champion, had an MRI exam on her wrist, which had surgery in 2004, and her participation in the U.S. Open is also in doubt. A tournament medical report said she had ligament damage and would have further testing and treatment.

Vaidisova's withdrawal left only six of the 16 seeds still in field. Flavia Pennetta of Italy, the 12th seed, had also pulled out with an injury.

Jankovic's exit gave Ivanovic a walkover win and a quarter-final date with Srebotnik, who sees an opportunity with so many stars missing.

``It's unfortunate for the tournament and for the players that pulled out,'' she said. ``Hopefully it's nothing serious.''

``You don't want that before the Open. Yeah, the draw opened up a lot but you still have players that are very good.''

Pratt got the walkover win from Vaidisova's withdrawal. Safina was a 7-5, 6-3 winner over Shenay Perry of the United States.

Chakvetadze beat Nathalie Dechy of France 6-1, 6-4 while Peer was a 2-6, 7-5, 6-4 winner over Marion Bartoli of France.

Kuznetsova saw no advantage in the many withdrawals from her end of the draw.

``I'm not looking at who withdrew,'' said Kuznetsova. ``I feel very sorry for them and it's really bad for the tournament, but I have a tough next match and I'm going to focus on that.''

Kuznetsova said she took time off before the Rogers Cup and came in fresh, but said other players must their own schedules and look after themselves.

``Montreal is a very important event,'' she said. ``It's really important for all the players to play here, but it's just by (bad) luck that it happened with everyone this week. That happens sometimes.''

Stars like Amelie Mauresmo of France and Justine Henin-Hardenne of Belgium pulled out before the tournament began with injuries, although both are entered next week in New Haven, Conn.

Maria Sharapova of Russia, the world No. 4, begged out due to fatigue after playing consecutive events in California and was fined by the WTA.

The Rogers Cup is a Tier-1 event that consistently attracts the best crowds for one-week tournaments on the Tour, but players are wary of aggravating injuries before the U.S. Open, the last of the four major tournaments.

Chakvetadze overpowered the popular 27-year-old Dechy with a tough service and strong backcourt game.

``Even with the score, it wasn't easy,'' said Chakvetadze. ``She started paying better at the end of the first set.

``But I held my serve pretty well.''

It will be a second quarter-finals appearance on hardcourts in less than a month for 19-year-old Chakvetadze, who also reached the quarters in San Diego two weeks ago.

Chakvetadze upset third-seeded Nadia Petrova of Russia in the second round on Wednesday, a player she also beat in San Diego.

Dechy, ranked 35th to Chakvetadze's 31st, has a Canadian mother from Sherbrooke, Que., and holds dual Canadian-French citizenship but plays Federation Cup for France.