TOKYO, Feb 4: Defending champion Lindsay Davenport crushed Venezuelan Maria Vento-Kabchi 6-2 6-1 to reach the quarterfinals of the US$1.3 m Pan Pacific Open on Wednesday.

The second-seeded American, chasing a fourth title in Tokyo, barely broke sweat as her fierce groundstrokes repeatedly skidded past Vento-Kabchi on the quick indoor carpet.

Davenport, playing her first match since losing to Justine Henin-Hardenne in the Australian Open quarter-finals last week, was gifted victory on her second match point when her dejected opponent double-faulted after just 50 minutes.

"We had a few more closer games than the score line showed today, but it felt pretty good," said Davenport, Pan Pacific champion in 1998, 2001 and 2003.

"I felt a lot of pressure go off my shoulders after I had foot surgery (last October). I feel more confident than last year but I still have a few hurdles to overcome."

Davenport will play eighth seed Daniela Hantuchova for a place in the semifinals after the willowy Slovakian beat 16-year-old Russian Maria Sharapova 7-6 6-1.

Seventh seed Jelena Dokic, who skipped the Australian Open for the third year running, struggled to a 3-6 7-6 6-1 victory over Cara Black of Zimbabwe in her first match of 2004.

The volatile Dokic, who has slipped from fourth in the world two years ago to her current ranking of 17th, put a positive spin on her error-riddled performance.

"For the first match of the year, it was pretty good. I was happy to fight it out and get out of a tough situation," shrugged Dokic, who used to represent Australia but now plays under the flag of Serbia and Montenegro.

"I was very close to going to Australia but I was just not quite physically ready. For sure, I would love to go back and definitely see myself going back - hopefully next year."

Dokic will play Slovakian Janette Husarova, a 7-6 6-3 winner over Thailand's Tamarine Tanasugarn, in the second round.

In other first round matches, fifth seed Chanda Rubin crushed Italy's Rita Grande 6-3 6-0 while Belgian Els Callens beat Russia's Lina Krasnoroutskaya 6-3 6-4.

In an all-Japanese affair, Akiko Morigami overcame Shinobu Asagoe 6-4 7-6 to set up a showdown with American Rubin.

Top seed Venus Williams, playing only her second tournament after being sidelined for six months with an abdominal injury, faces local favourite Saori Obata in a second round match on Thursday.

Results