There is bad karma circulating in the women's locker room. The Williams sisters have been accused of being aloof from the other players, Anna Kournikova, with some hint of jealousy, has been condemned for being "stuck up" and yesterday, Martina Hingis, the first woman into the quarter-final at Roland Garros was booed by the crowd.

Hingis looked relaxed when she breezed through the first set 6-3 against the wonderfully named Ruxandra Dragomir before anxiously collapsing 6-0 in the second and throwing up doubts as to how the match would fall.

The teenager, and favourite for the title, then gathered herself for a 6-1 finish, much to the disapproval of the crowd.

Hingis has gained a reputation for exercising the legs of umpires with her constant questioning of line calls. If a player is insistent the umpire climbs off the chair, runs across the court and searches for the appropriate ball mark for a final judgment.

While Hingis typically sidestepped the booing issue, Dragomir was more forthcoming about the French crowd's reaction.

"I don't know if they really have something against her or maybe they don't really like her," she said. "It's not very nice for Hingis when they do this every single match. I think she was stressed. You don't like it when someone's booing you."

Dragomir mixed her play smartly, several drop shots from back court catching Hingis glued to the baseline. But when the Swiss girl stepped up her precision and movement, the 27-year-old Romanian, like the rest of the tennis world, had few answers.

"I played some terrible points in the second set, but I knew, if I do the things I have to, it's going to be fine. I wasn't nervous about losing the second because I know there is another set coming," said Hingis, who now meets American Chanda Rubin in the quarter final.

Mary Pierce, who in the last 12 months has "woke up" to God with some help from her boyfriend Rob, once more gave away only three games to her 24-year-old opponent Asa Carlsson.

But Pierce's movement through the main draw has been anything but mysterious. In four matches she has yet to drop more than four games.

Pierce only dropped a mere 10 games en route to the French Open final in 1994, a record for the competition.

The real test will come in her next match against Monica Seles, who faced her toughest opponent to date in Amelie Mauresmo. The French woman, went out 7-5, 6-3 to the 26-year-old rejuvenated former champion.

Seles, who has won the title three consecutive times between 1990 and 1992 repeated her Italian Open final win over the 20-year-old using the same armoury, coruscating ground strokes off either side and a fitness level that will considerably stretch the less mobile Pierce.

Equally uplifting was Spain's Marta Marrero, who became the only qualifier to make it into the final eight.

She faced Rossana de Los Rios, a mother who took five years out of the game to have a child. Los Rios was playing in only her second Grand Slam.

The Paraguayan had returned to the professional game in June of last year and reached a ranking of 275 by the year's end, having once been inside the top 100.

Marrero, who dropped the first set 6-4 before a 6-0, 6-4 revival, will have a tough quarter-final against her compatriot, fifth-seed Conchita Martinez.

Martinez advanced in three sets as did Arantxa Sanchez Vicario, putting three Spaniards in the bottom half of the draw with American Venus Williams.

Williams recorded her fourth career win over Anke Huber. A tie break in the first set was all Huber could do to stretch the American.

QUARTER-FINAL DRAW: M Hingis (1) v C Rubin; M Seles (3) v M Pierce (6); A Sanchez Vicario (8) v V Williams (4); C Martinez (5) v M Marrero.