Switzerland's world number one tennis player, Martina Hingis, has progressed to the next round of the WTA tournament in San Diego in her first match since losing in the Wimbledon quarter-finals last month.

Hingis beat the Belgian player, Dominique van Roost (WTA 15) 6-2, 7-6 (7-2) to qualify for the quarter-finals of the $535,000 tournament at Carlsbad. Hingis had been given a bye in the first round.

Nonetheless, she had difficulty disposing of van Roost. Her opponent at one stage led 6-5 in the second set, but failed to hold her serve, which would have sent the match into a deciding third set.

Hingis said she was generally satisfied with her performance, but realised the need for improvement.

"Overall, I think it was a good match to have. I still need a little bit of improvement on some of the strokes. In some parts of my game I got better and took some more risks" said Hingis.

She took a three-week break from the WTA circuit after losing to Venus Williams in the Wimbledon quarter-finals, spending most of the time at her home in Florida.

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