INDIAN WELLS, Calif. -- Top-seeded Kim Clijsters moved into the third round of the Pacific Life Open with a 6-3, 7-5 victory Friday over Fabiola Zuluaga.

Clijsters, ranked No. 3 in the world, trailed 3-5 in the second set, then lost just five points in the final four games to take the first step toward a possible semifinal round meeting with 2002 champion Daniela Hantuchova, the No. 3 seed.

Hantuchova advanced earlier with a 6-2, 6-3 victory over Petra Mandula of Hungary.

Clijsters, 19, has won one title and reached three finals in her four tournaments this year. She reached the final here in 2001, losing a controversial three-set match to Serena Williams. Last year, as the top seed, she lost her opening match to Mathalie Dechy of France while battling shoulder problems that eventually sidelined her for six weeks.

She avoided a similar fate this year with a little help from Zuluaga, a Colombian who underwent two shoulder surgeries in 2001.

''The whole match she served really well,'' Clijsters said. ''But those are the moments she can get a little nervous and start thinking about, 'Well, I'm serving for the second set.

''Those are the times you still have to keep going. It's very important to make her play and win the points. I tried to stay consistent and not give her any easy leads in that game.''

Clijsters said she doesn't think about her results at a tournament from one year to another because ''there are so many other tournaments in between.''

Hantuchova has been thinking about last year, though. A tall, thin 19-year-old, Hantuchiva had her tour coming-out party at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden a year ago when she claimed the title with victories over Justine Henin-Hardenne in the third round and Martina Hingis in the final.

''As soon as I stepped on the court it reminded me of last year,'' Hantuchova said. ''You definitely feel a little pressure.That's why I'm glad there were not many problems today.

''It was a matter of me playing my tennis, being aggressive and not giving her many chances. Overall, I was really happy the way I played. It's nice to get back to a place where you did so good last year.''

Hantuchova, No. 6 in the world, is seeded third here and could meet top seed Clijsters in the semifinals. Her chances of that had improved earlier in the day, when Barbara Rittner upset No. 6 seed Jelena Dokic, 6-1, 5-7, 6-3.

Rittner arrived in the desert after going winless in her first three tournaments and taking a long layoff due to a severe case of bronchitis. She's feeling much better after her victory over the ninth-ranked Dokic.

Rittner said her strategy was simple.

''I just tried to stay in there, run like heck and hope for the best,'' she said.

That worked to perfection in the first set, when she jumped out to a 4-0 lead, and at the end of the match, when she won the final three games after Dokic missed what Rittner called ''a very easy volley'' that would have given her a 4-3 lead.

Dokic, who began working with Stefi Graf's former coach Heinz Gunthardt this year, lost her fourth consecutive match.

''Everything's fine. I'm not worried. Everyone has bad losses or matches where they don't play well,'' she said. ''It will come.''

Dokic was the most prominent seed to lose Friday, but not the only one. No. 11 Anna Pistolesi (the former Anna Smashnova) of Israel was toppled by Cara Black of Zimbabwe, 7-6 (3), 6-3.

No. 19 Tatiana Panova of Russia was beaten, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 by Emmanuelle Gagliardi of Switzerland, a semifinalist at Indian Wells last year.

No. 32 Janette Husarova of Slovakia lost to Jelena Kostanic of Croatia, 6-3, 6-7 (2), 6-2. Chanda Rubin, Magdalena Maleeva, Nathalie Dechy, Silvia Farina Elia, Conchita Martinez and Katarina Srebotnik also moved into the third round.

Maleeva, of Bulgaria, had perhaps the toughest time. She was pushed to a third-set tiebreaker before eliminating Stephanie Cohen-Aloro of France, a wild-card entrant ranked No. 105.