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Three-time champion Martina Hingis and 2004 finalist Kim Clijsters have raced through to the second-round of Australian Open 2007 on a sweltering Day Two at Melbourne Park.

And women's No.1 seed Maria Sharapova also advanced, but only after barely surviving the tough conditions and a titanic three-set battle with Frenchwoman Camille Pin on Rod Laver Arena.

With the roof closed at Vodafone Arena because of the activation earlier in the afternoon of the Extreme Heat Policy, the match was just 19 minutes old when Swiss No.6 seed Hingis wrapped up the opening set against Frenchwoman Nathalie Dechy.

And things didn't get much better for Dechy in the second set either, with Hingis claiming five breaks for the match from seven opportunities as she eventually prevailed 6-0 6-2 in only 54 minutes.

At about the same time Hingis was seeing off Dechy, Belgian No.4 seed Clijsters opened her final Melbourne Park campaign without conceding a game against Russian Vasilisa Bardina, who made the final of the Moorilla Hobart International at the weekend.

So supreme was Clijsters' performance that she allowed Bardina just two points on her own serve for the entire match, hitting a dozen winners and just seven unforced errors on the way to the 44-minute triumph.

Clijsters will next play Akiko Morigami of Japan, who eclipsed Bulgarian Tsvetana Pironkova 7-5 2-6 6-4, while Hingis will play Russian Alla Kudryavtseva, who battled very hard to see off Finn Emma Laine 4-6 6-2 9-7.

2006 US Open champion and 2004 Wimbledon winner Sharapova appeared to be cruising when she shrugged off losing the second set to race to a 5-0 lead in the third, but Pin staged a remarkable recovery and actually served for the match herself at 7-6.

Struggling to stay in the contest after the EHP's introduction during the second set at Rod Laver Arena, Sharapova dug deep and broke back before finally claiming her 6-3 4-6 9-7 victory in 171 minutes with her fourth break of the set.

After dominating the match early, despite hitting 25 unforced errors, Sharapova continued to rack up the unforced errors as the match wore on, eventually finishing with 65 to Pin's 44, but 44 winners to Pin's 14 went a long way to compensating.

Sharapova admitted that she had lost her way mentally as well as physically during the match, especially in the third set, while Pin was still coming to terms with her defeat and rueing her failure to make the most of her opportunities.

"It was really tough," Sharapova said. "You know, it was hard to think about what you were going to do on court because you were just mentally trying to find a way to kind of make the points shorter and basically trying to find a way to win."

"But sometimes when it's that hot outside, your mind doesn't work properly. Why? Because I'm not a quitter," she added when asked why she had not considered retiring even though she was struggling. "I'm not just going to stop because of the heat."

"Right now actually I feel very disappointed," Pin said. "But now that I've been around, I've been half an hour at the restaurant, and I can see people saying, 'Well, you did great today', so I feel a bit better now."

"But I was so close that I thought it was my day, but apparently it was not, so next time. I was really sad to miss it, but she's No.2 in the world and she's succeeded to do what she had to do on this game," Pin added of the game she dropped when serving for the match.

No doubt needing a day off to recover from the gruelling contest on Day Two, Sharapova will take on fellow Russian Anastassia Rodionova for a spot in the round of 32 after Rodionova accounted for Italian Roberta Vinci 6-3 6-1.

The night session belonged to the highly-rated local hopes with Alicia Molik and Samantha Stosur both progressing. Molik, making her first appearance at Melbourne Park as a player since 2005, had few troubles with Chinese Taipei's Yung-Jan Chan, delighting the fans on Rod Laver Arena with her 6-2 7-6(4) success.

Stosur, the No.24 seed, looked in ominous form against Czech player Klara Zakopalova, winning 6-3 6-1 in just under an hour.

But veteran Nicole Pratt bid farewell to this year's tournament, squandering a one-set lead against France's Virginie Razzano, who won 6-7(8) 6-4 6-0. Local wildcard Sophie Ferguson joined Pratt on the sidelines with Croatia's Jelena Kostanic Tosic prevailing 7-5 6-3.

Earlier, Russian No.12 seed Anna Chakvetadze, fresh from winning her third career title last week in Hobart, was also pushed in booking her own spot in the round of 64, seeing off Austrian Sybille Bammer 6-4 7-5 in a 95-minute battle.

Chakvetadze's second-round opponent will be American Laura Granville, who defeated Ukrainian Yulia Beygelzimer 6-2 6-3, while Serbian No.13 seed Ana Ivanovic was too strong for rising American star Vania King, cruising through 6-2 6-0.

Ivanovic will play rising Polish star Agnieszka Radwanska, who outlasted Varvara Lepchenko, 5-7 6-3 6-2.

Indian Sania Mirza, who made the semi-finals in Hobart before succumbing to Chakvetadze, eased through with a 6-3 7-5 victory over Ukrainian Olga Savchuk and will next play Aiko Nakamura of Japan, who upset Greek No.32 seed Eleni Daniilidou, 6-4 6-0.

Italy's No.30 seed Tathiana Garbin recovered from an early stutter against Swiss Emmanuelle Gagliardi to get through 3-6 6-2 6-1, while No.29 seed, Alona Bondarenko from the Ukraine, saw off French qualifier Stephanie Cohen-Aloro 6-1 7-6(6).

Czech qualifier Renata Voracova notched her fourth win of her campaign, seeing off American Meghann Shaughnessy 7-5 6-3, while Italian No.28 seed Flavia Pennetta was knocked out by Estonia's Kaia Kanepi in a match which started close to midnight. The Estonian won 7-5 7-6(3).

The delay in play imposed by the EHP means the first round of matches won't be complete until Day Three. The match between Madison Brengle and No.8 seed Patty Schnyder will be played first-up on Show Court Three, while the matches between Russian No.9 seed Dinara Safina and Ekaterina Bychkova, No.15 seed Daniela Hantuchova and Alize Cornet, Andreja Klepac and Shuai Peng, Ashley Harkleroad and Meng Yuan and Tamira Paszek and Severine Bremond will all be played first-up on other courts.

Also in that category are the clashes between Elena Bovina and No.19 seed Na Li, Youlia Fedossova and Catalina Castano, Emilie Loit and Aravane Rezai, Ahsha Rolle and Lourdes Dominguez Lino, No.17 seed Anna-Lena Groenefeld and Sandra Zahlavova and No.22 seed Vera Zvonareva and Tzipora Obziler.

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