Hingis cruises in California

Hingis won the last nine games of her match against Valero Keystone

Martina Hingis had no difficulties in reaching the fourth round of the Masters Series tournament in Indian Wells, beating Spain's Christina Torrens Valero 6-3, 6-0 in her second match of the weekend.

On Saturday, Hingis had to fight back from 4-5 down in the first set of second round match against the Czech Republic’s Kveta Hrdlickova, before eventually winning 7-5, 6-0.

On Sunday, though, the Swiss world number one faced little opposition from Valero, currently 82nd in the world rankings. A straight sets winner over Switzerland’s Emmanuelle Gagliardi in the first round, the Spaniard stayed on level terms with Hingis only until the sixth game.

Both players failed to hold their own serve until 3-3, at which point Hingis stepped up her play to take the next nine games in a row.

The Swiss star will now be aiming to avoid an upset in the fourth round where she is due to face either Austria’s Barbara Schett (WTA 16) or Argentina’s Paola Suarez (WTA 23).

The prestigious Californian tournament, with a prize fund of over two million dollars, has already seen a number of seeds toppled, including America’s Monica Seles, Spain’s Conchita Martinez and France’s Nathalie Tauziat.

swissinfo with agencies