Swiss bliss

Hingis pleased with effort in first competition since May

Martina Hingis took the second set 6-3 and received a standing ovation from the crowd. AP

MONTREAL (Reuters) -- Former world No. 1 Martina Hingis returned from an ankle injury to beat qualifier Magui Serna 6-4, 6-3 in the second round of the Canadian Open on Tuesday.

The $1.2 million Canadian Open serves as a warmup for the U.S. Open. It marked a successful comeback for the 21-year-old Swiss.

Hingis will also play in New Haven, Connecticut, next week before heading to New York.

"Every match is going to be important to play before then," she said.

"When it comes to the Grand Slams, definitely it's going to be tough. But once you have been there for a little while, it's still harder to maintain that level and you have to try to play the game and try to get to [the Williams'] level," Hingis said.

The sixth seed appeared totally in command as she outplayed her 23-year-old Spanish opponent in 61 minutes on Centre Court.

"I felt good. She made a lot of mistakes in the beginning," Hingis said after the match. Hingis, as well as the rest of the top eight seeds, received first-round byes.

"It wasn't obviously the best tennis I ever played."

Hingis will not have the chance to measure herself against world No. 1 Serena Williams in Montreal as Williams was forced out of the tournament on Tuesday because of "acute left knee tendinitis."

Williams said she was "very confident" she would be ready for the U.S. Open, which starts on August 26.

"I saw a little of [the Hingis] match today. It's nice to see her back, definitely," Williams said.

Hingis had not played since Hamburg in early May, where she reached the semifinals. She underwent surgery to repair torn and damaged ligaments in her left ankle.

"The ankle felt fine," Hingis said, adding she had it taped before the match.

She resumed training six weeks ago in Florida.

"You can practice as much as you can, but to get into match shape, you just have to play tournaments," she said.

Hingis held the number one ranking for 73 consecutive weeks and 209 total weeks before losing it in October last year.

She last won a grand slam in 1999, when she defeated Amelie Mauresmo in Melbourne for a third consecutive Australian Open.

In other first-round matches, Chanda Rubin, who defeated fellow American Lindsay Davenport to win the JP Morgan Chase Open on Sunday, saw off Russia's Tatiana Panova 6-1, 6-3, while fellow American Laura Granville beat Spain's Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario 6-2, 6-2.

Patty Schnyder beat Russian Elena Likhovtseva 7-6 (4), 7-5. Argentina's Paola Suarez disposed of Italy's Rita Grande 6-0, 6-4.

In a Slovakian duel, Martina Sucha beat Janette Husarova 6-2, 6-2. American Lisa Raymond lost to Japan's Ai Sugiyama 6-3, 6-1, while Italy's Francesca Schiavone endured a duel with Greece's Eleni Daniilidou 6-7 (10), 6-4, 6-4.

No. 7 Amelie Mauresmo beat Spain's Cristina Torrens Valero 6-1, 6-2 in her second-round match, while Colombia's Fabiola Zuluaga, who was due to play Williams, beat Meilen Tu 6-3, 2-6, 6-1 to advance to the third round.

 

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