Martina Hingis Continues to Cruise in Comeback

Posted on January 4, 2006

GOLD COAST, Australia - Always the crowd pleaser, Martina Hingis didn't disappoint as she won her second match this week at the Mondial Australian Women's Hardcourts after announcing her full-scale comeback to the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour last month.

Excluding a brief stint in Pattaya City, Thailand, the distinguished champion had not played on Tour since October 2002.

Now, the former world No.1, who is currently unranked, is through to her first Tour quarterfinal since 2002 New Haven, after beating No.35-ranked Klara Koukalova, 63 63, in a 70-minute second-round match.

With a first-round win over No. 62-ranked Maria Vento-Kabchi and now a win over a Top 50 player, Hingis' confidence continues to grow. It helps also that her new form includes a stronger serve and more aggressive baseline play.

"Every set I feel like I'm shaking off a little bit of the rustiness of the last three years," said Hingis, a five-time Grand Slam champion.

While both players tired in the second set, Hingis' trademark mental toughness pulled her through in the end. Koukalova had break back opportunities at 1-4 and 2-5 in the second set and occasionally overpowered Hingis from the baseline, but Hingis held firm and scored another popular victory.

"Probably the winning spirit...got me through today," Hingis said. "We were pretty flat, both of us, at the end, and I just really had more to give and at the third match point, I was like 'please, thank God,' you know, it was over."

I was fine in the beginning, and then closing out the first set, I started thinking about it too much. That's one thing I probably have to get under control, just keep going, keep serving, keep playing the way I did before, but it's kind of hard against a girl who's down 4-1 5-2 and she has nothing to lose in that set any more. She just starts hitting, and there you have to hold against it, and that's something I really have to work on. But that only comes with matches."

Next up for Hingis is a quarterfinal meeting with world No.50 Nuria Llagostera Vives, who scored the upset of the day and a second-best career win, when she beat No. 2 seed and world No.13 Francesca Schiavone, 63 61. Llagostera Vives' best win was a 36 63 61 triumph over then-world No.11 Vera Zvonareva in the second round at 2005 Miami.

Usually known for her high-spirited game, Schiavone was uncharacteristically lackluster while an enterprising Llagostera Vives outsmarted and outlasted the Italian with consistent play.

"My coach and I discussed how I should play against her today, and I’m very happy that it worked so well," said Llagostera Vives, who last year, reached a career-high No.35 ranking in June. "I started the match great, and I thought that it couldn’t last, but I kept playing really well, so I’m very happy to reach the quarterfinals in this way."

Thursday's match will be a first-time meeting, and Hingis had her own scouting report on Llagostera Vives.

"She's a little girl...so she's hopefully not going to overpower me. That's one thing; you just have to be patient. She gets a lot of balls back; she runs down a lot of balls, (so I) just (need to) play my game."

Switzerland will have two representatives in the quarters, with top seed and defending champion Patty Schnyder (pictured) also advancing to the last eight. In a battle of two crafty left-handers, Schnyder prevailed with a 63 60 win over Angela Haynes in a repeat of last year's second-round match.

"Being only my second match of the year, I’m pleased with today’s match," said Schnyder, who had her first career Top 10 finish in 2005. "I worked hard in the off-season on a few things in my game, and even though it’s too early to see if they’re all working well, there are definitely some positive signs."

Schnyder will face 18-year-old up-and-comer Lucie Safarova on Thursday in the featured night match.

No. 5 seed Tatiana Golovin took the last quarterfinal spot on Wednesday with a 61 63 win over Sybille Bammer. It was a one-sided affair, with Golovin, a semifinalist at Gold Coast last year, dominating the whole match. The 17-year-old Frenchwoman must now oppose No.4 seed Flavia Pennetta for a return to the final four.

Play on Thursday begins at 10:30 a.m. local time with No.3 seed Dinara Safina taking on No.8 seed Anabel Medina Garrigues in the first quarterfinal of the day. Also, the dynamic duo of Hingis and Golovin will go for win No.2 in doubles as the last match of the day.

This is the tenth year of the Gold Coast event, which boasts a new title sponsor this year, Mondial. Former champions, in addition to Schnyder, include Venus Williams, Justine Henin-Hardenne and Sugiyama. The champion will take home $28,000 while the runner-up will collect $14,650. (WTA)