By Pritha Sarkar

MELBOURNE (Reuters) - Racing against each other, Kim Clijsters and Martina Hingis sprinted towards a potential quarter-final showdown at the Australian Open on Thursday.

Clijsters's former fiance Lleyton Hewitt, however, struggled to clear the hurdles presented by Canadian Frank Dancevic before he finally lunged into the third round with a 6-4 6-4 3-6 6-4 victory.

Hingis and Clijsters entered the two showcourts at Melbourne Park at almost the same time for their second-round matches, with both eager to get back to the locker room the quickest.

Fourth seed Clijsters crossed the tape first as she whipped Japan's Akiko Morigami 6-3 6-0 in 59 minutes under a closed roof in the Rod Laver Arena.

Hingis, seeded sixth, lagged behind by nine minutes but was impressive in a 6-2 6-2 win over hapless Russian teenager Alla Kudryavtseva.

"We almost won at around the same time and then we came into the locker room and she's like, 'Damn, you beat me, you were there first'," said Clijsters, who is aiming to add the Australian Open title to her 2005 Flushing Meadows success.

Fans can look forward to seeing a lot more of a bearded James Blake after he dispatched fellow American Alex Kuznetsov 6-4 6-1 6-2.

"Once I start winning, I don't shave, it's a superstition," the fifth seed, who won the Sydney International title last weekend, told the crowd.

"Once something starts working you've got to stick with it."

With rain delaying the start of play on the outside courts for 90 minutes, it was left to Clijsters to provide all the entertainment.

UNFORGETTABLE MOMENTS

Playing at Melbourne Park for the last time before hanging up her rackets for good at the end of the year, Clijsters is determined to leave her mark.

While winning the trophy on January 27 is the ultimate goal, she has been seen clicking away with a camera capturing unforgettable moments.

On Thursday, though, she will probably have to call on one of the hundreds of professional photographers at the event to add another image to her album.

At 4-2 up, Clijsters scurried towards the baseline in an attempt to retrieve a Morigami shot and when she was unable to get behind it, she improvised.

Grabbing the racket with both hands and with her back still turned towards the net, she smacked the ball over her head, hoping against hope that it would clear her side of the court.

It did not.

She saw the funny side of her efforts and shook her head with laughter as the crowd roared their approval.

Hewitt, though, gave the fans plenty of anxious moments as he continued his mission to end Australia's search for their first men's champion since 1976.

Having come into the tournament with a question mark hanging over his fitness, he was happy though to follow up his five-set win two days ago with a two-hour, 48-minute battle on Thursday.

"Coming in, I didn't have too much match practice and I've now had a lot of match practice. That can only be a good thing," said Hewitt, who is seeded to meet world number two Rafael Nadal in the quarter-finals.

Nadal will be the main attraction in the night session against Philipp Kohlschreiber.