Martina Hingis ended her Indian campaign by collecting her second title of the season and her forty-second career title when she beat Russian teen Olga Poutchkova at the final round of the Sunfeast Open, in Kolkata, India, 6-0, 6-4, in less than an hour.

Hingis dominated her young opponent in the first set. Poutchkova offered little resistance to Hingis’ shots and ended up with unforced errors. Never giving a chance for Poutchkova to catch up with her game, Hingis wasted no time in winning the first set 6-0.

The second set saw Poutchova using her powerful backhand. Poutchkova then forced Hingis into making mistakes then raced to a 3-1 lead. Hingis then found her rhythm and won the next four games by holding her serve and breaking Poutchkova’s serve respectively twice, for a 5-3 lead. The Russian refused to give up, broke Hingis’ serve to narrow down Hingis’ lead to 5-4. Her Russian opponent watched helplessly as Hingis broke back, winning the second set in style after converting her second of the three matchpoints, 6-4.

“I had to re-focus then,” Hingis said. “She was playing to my forehand which took me by surprise a bit. At one point, I even believed she had a chance. She is very talented, and I wish her a great career, ” Hingis moved on to praise her young opponent.

“I was very excited to play Martina. She is a great player, and I look up to her. I had taken a picture with her when I was 10, ” Poutchkova said.

In a grand fashion, Martina Hingis came out victorious over hometown favourite Sania Mirza, 6-1, 6-0, in fifty-eight minutes, at the semifinal round of the Sunfeast Open in Kolkata, India. This is Hingis’ second win against Mirza.

Both players held their respective serves in the first two games for a 1-1 score. Hingis served well and hit varied shots leaving Mirza and the supportive crowd stunned. Hingis then broke Mirza’s serve in the fourth to serve for the set. After long rallies, Hingis handily won the first set, 6-1.

In second set, Hingis was on fire, dictated the play, and moved Mirza from side to side of the court. In the end, Hingis handed Mirza a bagel after closing the set by holding her serve. Mirza had several chances of getting back at the game, but Hingis was just too much for her.

“I don’t think the match was that easy. The points were long. I tried to keep away from her forehand as much as possible but now her backhand is improving. I served well today, and tried to mix it up. You need to stick to the basics and put pressure on your opponent on big points, and that’s what I did,” Hingis said.

“She’s a natural athlete. Like Federer, she makes the game look effortless,” Mirza said of Hingis.
In the final round, Hingis will battle Russian Olga Poutchova who beat Uzbek Iroda Tulyaganova in the other semifinal match.

Swiss Martina Hingis set up a clash with crowd favorite, Sania Mirza in the semifinals after dispatching Thai Tamarine Tanasugarn in the quarterfinal of the Sunfeast Open in Kolkata, India, 7-5, 6-2, in two hours. Hingis’ win over Tanasugarn extended her dominance over the Thai
player to 4-0 in career head-to-head wins.

Starting sluggishly, Hingis made some errors while trailing Tanasugarn 3-0. After a change of strategy, Hingis held her serve, then broke Tanasugarn’s serve in the fourth and fifth games respectively, narrowing Tanasugarn’s lead to 3-2.Tanasugarn then fought off Hingis’ assault, holding her serve, then breaking Hingis’ serve for a 5-3 lead. Hingis fought back, holding her serve, then broke Tanasugarn’s serve, to level the score at 5-5. Having found her game, Hingis then won the next two games to take the first set, 7-5.

Hingis, beaming with confidence, was unstoppable in the second set, racing to a 3-0 lead. Tanasugarn regrouped and held her serve at 3-1. In the next three games, both HIngis and Tanasugarn held their respective serves, pushing the score at 5-2. Hingis sealed the match by breaking Tanasugarn’s serve for a 6-2 second set win.

“I was making some mistakes in the beginning. I was rushing too much. It was not working. So I changed my style and kept the ball in play. And that made the difference,” Hingis said after the match.

“This is the match everyone was expecting. I hope I’ll also have some support tomorrow,” Hingis said of her next match against Sania Mirza.

Martina Hingis advanced into the quarterfinals of the Sunfeast Open, in Kolkata, India after laboring in the second set to beat Tzipora Obziler of Israel, 6-2, 7-5.
Hingis and Obziler split the first four games of the first set with two games apiece. Hingis took control of the first set, dictated the game, forcing Obziler to hit long shots and to commit error after error. Hingis then won the first set handily, 6-2.

Obziler picked up her game in the second set, matching Hingis shot for shot. The two players went on to hold their respective serves up to the sixth game for a 3-3 tie. In the seventh game, Hingis broke Obziler’s serve for a 4-3 lead. Just when it seemed that Hingis was in for a swift game, Obziler put up a fight and broke back to even the score at 4-4. Hingis and Obziler went on to hold their respective serves in the next two games at 5-5. Hingis then broke Obziler’s serve for a 6-5 lead. Then, displaying her class, Hingis unleashed three winners in a row to win the set, 7-5, and the match 6-2, 7-5.

“I was having problems with consistency in the second set,” Hingis said. “In the first set I was on top of things, but I let her back in, was hitting the ball a little short and she stopped making errors.”

Hingis next facesTamarine Tanasugarn of Thailand in the quarterfinals.

Martina Hingis advanced into the second round of the Sunfeast Open after defeating Melinda Czink, 6-1, 6-2, in forty-four minutes.

Playing relaxed, Hingis led Czink in the first set, 2-0, before the Hungarian won the third game of the first set, narrowing Hingis’ lead to 2-1. As the match progressed, Hingis stepped up her game, moving faster around the court, pounding deep-angled shots well within the line, which left Czink scrambling. Hingis then went on to win the next four games for a 6-1 first-set victory.

In the second set, both players won a piece of the first two games for a 1-1 score. Hingis got better in the second set, as Czink upped her game, hitting unreturnable shots. After a brief fight back from Czink, Hingis went on to win the second set, 6-2, and the match, 6-1, 6-2.

Hingis faces Tzipora Obziler of Israel in the second round for the first time.