It was third time lucky for Switzerland's Patty Schnyder as she defeated Ruxandra Dragomir in the first round of Germany's Filderstadt tennis tournament.

The straight sets win (6-3, 6-4) was Schnyder's first victory over the Romanian in three attempts.

Currently ranked 20th in the world, Schnyder finally lived up to her better standing against Dragomir, who is ranked more than 20 places lower than the Swiss number two.

Schnyder will now face the fifth-seeded South African player Amanda Coetzer in the second round.

Switzerland's world number one Martina Hingis is also due to return to action in Filderstadt, where she has enjoyed remarkable success in the past.

The defending champion, Hingis has won the hardcourt tournament three times in the last four years.

After receiving a bye into the second round, Hingis is due to take on Belgium's Justine Henin who beat Spain's Gala Leon Garcia in the first round.

There was further Swiss success in the women's game on Tuesday as Miroslava Vavrinec pulled off a surprise win over Hungary's Rita Kuti Kis. After having to qualify for the $535,000 event, Vavrinec defeated the Hungarian, ranked more than fifty places above her, in straight sets (6-4, 6-2).

Only one of Switzerland's top men's players was in action on the ATP tour this week. But the Hong Kong Open wasn't to be a very long engagement for George Bastl.

The Swiss number three faced a difficult first round encounter, after being drawn against third-seeded Nicholas Kiefer of Germany.

Kiefer, who had himself lost in the first round at the Sydney Olympic tournament after pulling a leg muscle, beat Bastl 6-2 6-4.

swissinfo with agencies

In compliance with the JTI standards

More: SWI swissinfo.ch certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative