Hingis reaches Tokyo semi-finals
Switzerland's Martina Hingis has made it through to the semi-finals of the Pan Pacific Open tennis tournament in Tokyo with a two-set victory.
The world number four defeated Thailand’s Tamarine Tanasugarn 6-3, 6-2 on Friday, but had to work hard after a poor start to the match.
The Swiss dropped two of her first three service games, finding her touch only after she was rattled by two close line calls while serving at 3-3. She then reeled off three aces before upping the pace of the match from the baseline.
“At 3-3, I knew I needed to do something because I was all over the place mentally,” said Hingis. “That was the turn-around point.”
In the second set, Hingis attacked the net more often to take a 5-1 lead, before closing out the match in just over an hour’s play. The Swiss number one admitted she had faced a harder task than she planned for.
“Maybe I thought I could walk through the match, but she was better than I expected,” said the top seed. “I really had to work for the points.”
The 21-year-old will now face Italy’s Silvia Farina, who overcame Sandrine Testud of France, 6-4, 6-3.
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