Hingis wins, Rosset out

Hingis reached the last four with ease Keystone

The latest action from the Indian Wells tennis tournament has seen Martina Hingis easily winning her quarterfinal against Italy's Silvia Farina. But there was disappointment for Marc Rosset, who was beaten in the first round by Sweden's Thomas Enqvist.

Hingis took only 43 minutes to polish off her opponent in two easy sets, 6-0, 6-1. The world number one only dropped her serve once at the beginning of the second set.

“I was very focused,” said Hingis. “There are always things you can still get better, like that first game in the second set I let down a little bit.”

The Swiss star will now face Belgium’s Kim Clijsters in the semi-final, a player against whom she has never given up a set in three previous matches. Hingis was the runner-up in last year’s championship.

Marc Rosset followed the same path as compatriot Roger Federer in the men’s tournament. The Genevan went down to ninth seed Enqvist in three hard-fought sets, 7-6, 2-6, 6-4.

Rosset fired off 28 aces against the Swede, who is still on the comeback trail from injury. The Swiss player got off to a good start, leading in the first set 3-1, with a further two break points on the Enqvist serve.

But the ninth seed stopped Rosset in his tracks. “I set up a wining point, but he managed to pass me with a huge shot, “said Rosset.

“After that, I had a lot of chances. But when luck and confidence aren’t there, you can’t win…”

Rosset rallied again to take the second set, but failed to keep his momentum. Enqvist broke the Genevan’s serve in the fifth game of the last set to close out the match.

This defeat is Rosset’s sixth in 10 matches played against the Swede, and also the second this year. The Swiss player has failed to get beyond the second round in seven tournaments this year.

swissinfo with agencies