Hingis Wins Rome, Eyes French Open

"I had my chances in the past," said Hingis, a French Open runner-up in 1997 and '99. "This year there are many good players who can do well in the tournament. The pressure is on them, it's not on me, and now with winning this event I know that I can do it again. I know I'm very close."

Hingis' opponent Sunday in Rome, Russian Dinara Safina, had experienced a breakthrough week with wins over Kim Clijsters, countrywoman and two-time Slam runner-up Elena Dementieva, and another countrywoman in former US Open champ Svetlana Kuznetsova, but none of that mattered in the championship as Hingis took apart the sister of ATP star Marat Safin 6-2, 7-5.

Hingis rolled over the Russian in under half an hour in the first set then drove to a 4-1 lead in the second before a reoccurrence of the big-match nerves the Swiss has suffered over the last few months, letting opponents back into matches. Hingis finally clinched the match on her fourth match point, her 41st career title and first in more than four years after a three-year absence from the game.

"I almost feel like I won my first title," Hingis said. "This is what you play for, what I came back for."

In the doubles final No. 4 seeds Daniela Hantuchova and Ai Sugiyama posted a 3-6, 6-3, 6-1 victory over the No. 8-seeded duo of Francesca Schiavone and Kveta Peschke for their second title of the year as a team.