STANFORD, California (AFP) - WTA Tour veteran Patty Schnyder breezed past American wild card Amber Liu 6-1, 6-1, in a first-round match at the Bank of the West Classic.

The fifth-seeded Swiss made quick work of Liu, eliminating the 328th-ranked player in just 44 minutes.

The 29-year-old Schnyder, currently the world No. 13, was coming off a disappointing opening-round loss to Casey Dellacqua at Wimbledon.

Schnyder is seeking better results at this tournament, where she was runner-up two years ago. In five prior performances here, she is 8-5, including a semi-final appearance in 2005 and a quarter-final effort in 2007.

The only remaining American is top-seeded Serena Williams.

Monday proved to be a difficult day for the host country and was followed by Liu's exit on Tuesday.

The biggest name to bow out was Lindsay Davenport, who withdrew due to a troublesome right knee. The 32-year-old won this event in 1998, 1999 and 2004.

Davenport was replaced in the draw by Australian Samantha Stosur, who defeated Russia's Anastasia Rodionova 6-3, 6-1, on Tuesday in a first-round match.

In upsets, Slovakian Dominika Cibulkova upended No. 7 Nadia Petrova of Russia, 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, while Aleksandra Wozniak of Canada topped eighth-seeded Italian Francesca Schiavone 2-6, 6-3, 6-2.

Michelle Larcher ousted Gisela Dulko, 7-5, 7-6 (7/1), and will face Williams, who received a first-round bye as one of the top four seeds.

Defending champion and second seed Anna Chakvetadze will meet Israel's Shahar Peer a 7-5, 6-0 winner over Melinda Czink of Hungary on Tuesday.