CARSON, Calif. -- Kim Clijsters moved closer to replacing Serena Williams at No. 1, beating Emilie Loit 6-1, 6-1 in 50 minutes Wednesday in the second round of the JPMorgan Chase Open.

Clijsters raced through the first set in 21 minutes, with Loit offering her only resistance in the sixth game. She fought back from love-40 on her serve to force three deuces, but then netted a backhand to give Clijsters a 5-1 lead.

In the second set, Loit had three break points on Clijsters' serve, but couldn't convert any of them and fell behind 3-1. She had four chances to hold on her serve in the next game, but Clijsters hit a backhand winner for a 4-1 lead. Loit trailed triple match point on her serve and lost when she netted a backhand.

Clijsters is on the verge of overtaking the injured Williams as the world's top-ranked player. Williams had knee surgery Friday and will be out up to two months, meaning she won't be able to defend her U.S. Open title.

Clijsters could gain the top spot for the first time in her career if she wins the tournament, beating certain players along the way. But she says being No. 2 is satisfying, too.

"I don't think ahead or plan ahead,'' she said. "I'm already happy with how far I got. When you're so close, it's always very motivating to keep doing well. It's never been a goal of mine. I'm not going to think differently now because I'm so close to No. 1.''

Four seeded players were eliminated Wednesday.

No. 5 Jelena Dokic lost to Svetlana Kuznetsova 4-6, 7-6 (5), 6-3; ninth-seeded Elena Dementieva was beaten by Virginia Ruano Pascual 6-3, 5-7, 7-5; No. 12 Eleni Daniilidou lost to Nicole Pratt 6-2, 6-7 (5), 6-3; and No. 15 Alexandra Stevenson quit with a strained right shoulder while trailing Viktoriya Kutuzova 6-3, 3-3.

Dokic, who has reached just one semifinal this year, led 4-1 in the second-set tiebreaker before unraveling with several unforced errors.

"My head just went off. I got a bit nervous,'' she said. "I should have won the match. It was just mental. After she won the tiebreaker, she had an easy time in the third set.''

Other winners: No. 8 Amanda Coetzer, No. 10 Meghann Shaughnessy and No. 16 Francesca Schiavone.

Second-seeded Lindsay Davenport defeated Barbara Schett 6-3, 6-1 in a 54-minute night match.

The players competed with loud music, cheering and chanting from a U.S. Open soccer match going on in the stadium across the way. The tennis crowd was sparse and quiet.

"I heard the goal a couple of times, the music -- it was kind of crazy out there,'' Davenport said. "It's going to take a few years to build this event up.''

Davenport wasted her first match point when she missed an easy smash. She laughed it off, but needed two more match points before closing out Schett.

"I was trying to hit it in the air and I lost it in the lights, so I backed up. Then I lost complete track of where the court was,'' said Davenport, a three-time major champion.

Clijsters has yet to win a Grand Slam title, although she defeated Williams in the final of last year's season-ending WTA Championships. Before reaching No. 2 this year, she had been third in March 2002, the eighth-youngest player to reach that spot.

Growing up, Clijsters' dreams were no bigger than being able to play on center court at the French Open and Wimbledon.

"As a young player, the pressure comes more from people around you to push for No. 1,'' the Belgian said. "I don't see a 10-year-old saying, 'I'm going to train to become No. 1 in the world.'''

Clijsters already has experienced one aspect of being near the top -- gossip about her relationship with former men's No. 1 Lleyton Hewitt. One of the incorrect stories she saw suggested the couple had vacationed on an island near Slovenia.

"They've said I've been married already or Lleyton and I are engaged " she said, smiling. "I have no idea where they get all these things. It's amazing.''