Torrens-Valero, who finished 2001 ranked 32nd in the world, continues to try and forget about her disappointing start to the year, losing five of her six matches before this week.

The 27-year-old's only previous victory came in the first round of the Paris Indoor event, where she posted a comeback victory over Switzerland's Patty Schnyder. Seeded 26th at the Australian Open, Torrens-Valero was upset by Argentina's Mariana Diaz-Oliva.

The resident of Valencia, Spain is gunning for her third career WTA title. Torrens-Valero won her second crown in July at the claycourt tournament in Sopot, Poland. She also captured her first career crown on clay in Poland at the 1999 Warsaw Cup.

Torrens-Valero faces a tough quarterfinals encounter with fifth seed Rossana Neffa-De Los Rios. The Paraguayan cruised to a 6-1, 6-3 win over Maria Antonia Sanchez-Lorenzo of Spain.

Neffa-De Los Rios, 26, will attempt to advance to her third career WTA Tour semifinal, having accomplished the feat at Bahia, Brazil and Pattaya, Thailand in 2001.

In the lone upset Wednesday, Colombian wild-card entrant Fabiola Zuluaga ousted Hungarian Rita Kuti Kis, the eighth seed, 6-3, 6-2.

Last year's runner-up here, Kuti Kis lost in the first round at Hobart and Melbourne last month.

Zuluaga, who won the first of her two career WTA titles here in 1999, awaits the winner of Thursday's second-round match between third seed Paola Suarez of Argentina and Maria Elena Camerin of Italy.

In other action Wednesday, Katarina Srebotnik of Slovenia overwhelmed Ludmila Cervanova of Slovakia, 6-1, 6-1. She will face either Alena Vaskova of the Czech Republic or Celine Beigbeder of France in the quarterfinals.

The winner collects $27,000.