Martina Hingis is out of the Sydney International after just one round. Unseeded Serbian Jelena Jankovic continued her winning form with a three-set win over three-time Australian Open champion and fifth-seeded Hingis 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 yesterday.
The 21-year-old Serbian won the second title of her short career in Auckland last week and moved her Swiss opponent all around the court during the two-hour match.
"I just came from Auckland so I didn't have much time to recover, I was quite proud of how I managed to pull through," Jankovic said.
PHOTO: AP
Hingis was a finalist in her first tournament of this year on the Gold Coast last week, losing to Dinara Safina in three sets.
With seven of the top 10-ranked women in the world playing the traditional Australian Open warmup tournament, Hingis knew she was in for a tough week. She will now focus on winning a fourth title in Melbourne.
"At least Ill be fresh and ready to go [for the Australian Open]. I always take the positive," Hingis said.
A small but vocal Serbian contingent with flags flowing above their heads celebrated when Hingis hit a forehand long on match point to hand Jankovic, last year's US Open semi-finalist, her sixth straight win of the year.
Jankovic will play Australian wild card Samantha Stosur in the second round. Earlier, Stosur and Tatiana Golovin of France advanced with straight-set victories.
Stosur beat Vera Zvonareva of Russia 6-1, 6-4 and Golovin beat Chinese qualifier Peng Shuai 6-4, 7-5.
In a late women's match, Australia's Nicole Pratt upset Gold Coast winner Safina 4-6, 6-3, 6-2.
In men's play yesterday, Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus made a successful return to Australian courts with a straight-sets victory over Latvian qualifier Ernests Gulbis.
It was Baghdatis's first match in Australia since losing to Roger Federer in last year's Australian Open final. With more than a dozen Sydney-based relatives watching, Baghdatis won 7-6 (3), 6-1.
World second-ranked Rafael Nadal of Spain is the top men's seed at Sydney and is scheduled to play his first-round match today against Australian Chris Guccione.
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