Hingis defeats Testud again
Swiss tennis player Martina Hingis has improved her perfect record against Sandrine Testud to reach the semifinals of the Sydney WTA tournament.
Hingis has never lost in 16 matches against the Frenchwoman, whom she defeated 6-4, 6-2 in Australia. The Swiss dropped a service game early in the first set, but a change in tactics brought immediate rewards.
Switching from a high, kicking serve to a slicing one, Hingis hit back with consecutive breaks and took the first set in 42 minutes. The 21-year-old, who encountered fewer problems in the second set to close out the match, made only 12 unforced errors on Thursday.
“I played very smart and didn’t make many unforced errors and that was the key to the game,” said Hingis. “I’m very happy with the way that I am playing at the moment.”
Hingis, who is one of the favourites of next week’s Australian Open, is competing in her first tournament since injury her ankle last October.
Big test
“This was the first real big test for me to see whether I was in good shape,” she said. “I am really pleased the way it came out.”
“The most difficult thing for me was to believe in (myself) again, that you can get up there and just play the way you are supposed to, and even better.”
Hingis will face Belgium’s Kim Clijsters in the semifinal.
In other action at the Adidas international, Switzerland’s Roger Federer also advanced to the semifinals of the men’s draw, with a win over Chile’s former world number one, Marcelo Rios. The number two seed took three sets to overcome his opponent 6-7, 7-6, 6-3.
Federer saved five break points against his serve, and converted two of three of his own chances. After this tight match, the Swiss said he was happy to escape with the win.
“He was number one, so it’s always something special,” said Federer. “It was a very hard match and I was close to losing, but I just had a better break in the second set and an early one in the third.”
In other tennis news, Patty Schnyder lost to Thailand’s Tamarine Tanasugarn 6-2, 6-4 in the quarterfinals of the Canberra Classic. In Auckland, New Zealand, Michel Kratochvil was more successful, reaching the semifinals of the Heineken Open after defeating Argentinian David Nalbandian in three sets, 2-6, 6-1, 7-5.
swissinfo with agencies
In compliance with the JTI standards
More: SWI swissinfo.ch certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.