Hingis survives scare to reach quarterfinals

Martina Hingis loses the second set in her fourth round match 6-0 but runs out the winner Keystone

Switzerland's world number one, Martina Hingis, has made it through to the quarterfinals of the French Open after a disastrous second set in her fourth round match against the Romanian, Ruxandra Dragomir.

The only surviving Swiss player in the men’s draw, Roger Federer, lost to Spain’s Alex Corretja.

Hingis won the first set but then conceded seven consecutive games before rallying to win 6-3, 0-6, 6-1. Top seeded Hingis admitted she had given up hope of winning the second set after falling behind.

“I knew just get that set over with,” she said. “I was down 3-0, 4-0. There’s no way at this tournament you’re going to come back.”

The Swiss teenager appeared to be in control of the match but began to unravel in the second set and struggled with an erratic forehand. She lost her serve five times in the first two sets and fell behind 1-0 in the third.

But she reversed the momentum and put pressure on Dragomir with her full arsenal of shots including a pinpoint lob, a swinging volley, drop shots and winners at the net.

Hingis, who is aiming to win her first ever French Open, will now meet the unseeded American, Chanda Rubin in the next round.

In the men’s draw, Federer lost in straight sets to the tenth seeded Corretja, 5-7, 6-7, 2-6. Federer played well in his first appearance in a Grand Slam fourth round match and showed no ill effects from his mammoth four-and-a-half hour, third round win over countryman Michel Kratochvil.


swissinfo with agencies