Hingis Rallies Past Vaidisova to Reach Third Round Martina Hingis overcame a sluggish start to defeat Czech teenager Nicole Vaidisova 7-5, 6-3 in the 2nd round of the Internazionali d’Italia in Rome.

Appearing unfocused in the beginning of the match, Hingis hit a series of unforced errors to quickly go down 0-3 while surrendering two service games. She then regrouped and continued to play aggressively, rushing to the net on every opportunity, winning 5 games in a row to lead 5-3. The hard-hitting Vaidisova quickly broke serve and held her own, saving a set point in the process, en route to leveling the set 5-5. At this point, Hingis seemed to have regained her focus and won the next 2 games to take the first set 7-5.

The 2nd set saw both players trying to take control of each point by playing aggressively: Vaidisova with her hard groundstrokes and Hingis by her canny drop shots and net play. In the end it was Hingis who came out on top, winning the match 7-5, 6-3 in 1 hour and 22 minutes. The match statistics show Vaidisova was better in the winners/unforced errors (26 to 23 vs. Hingis’ 18 to 20) and serve departments (4 aces to 2), but it was Hingis’ all-around game that eventually won her the match.

Martina Hingis, now guaranteed a spot in the top 20 in the WTA rankings, plays Francesca Schiavone of Italy in the next round. Schiavone (#11) breezed past Mara Santangelo 6-4, 6-0 earlier today. Hingis leads their head-to-head 2-0 and won in straight sets in Tokyo last February, however, Schiavone is known to be a clay-court specialist and will have the advantage of playing on home soil. The 3rd round encounter will get underway on Thursday.

Elena Dementieva’s campaign for a second Tier I title will get underway on Wednesday as the Russian takes on Chinese power-hitter Shuai Peng.

These players have faced off once before, last year in San Diego, with Peng coming up on top with a hard-fought 7:5, 6:4 victory. Peng was leading Dominguez Lino 6:3, 3:0 in the first round before the Spanish retired with heat illness.

In doubles, the team of Dementieva/Pennetta had to withdraw from their scheduled first round versus Husarova/Peer due to Pennetta’s back injury. They were replaced by lucky-losers Dentoni/Perugini from Italy.

Should Elena beat her Chinese opponent, she is either meeting Aiko Nakamura or Anna-Lena Groenefeld, who will do battle for a third-round berth.

Other players advancing on day two at the Internazionali d’Italia include Venus Williams, home darlings Flavia Pennetta and Francesca Schiavone, as well as Svetlana Kuznetsova. Number thirteen seed Daniela Hantuchova was sent packing in three sets by Aussie star Samantha Stosur.

Martina Hingis overcame a sluggish start to defeat Czech teenager Nicole Vaidisova 7-5, 6-3 in the 2nd round of the Internazionali d’Italia in Rome.

Appearing unfocused in the beginning of the match, Hingis hit a series of unforced errors to quickly go down 0-3 while surrendering two service games. She then regrouped and continued to play aggressively, rushing to the net on every opportunity, winning 5 games in a row to lead 5-3. The hard-hitting Vaidisova quickly broke serve and held her own, saving a set point in the process, en route to leveling the set 5-5. At this point, Hingis seemed to have regained her focus and won the next 2 games to take the first set 7-5.

The 2nd set saw both players trying to take control of each point by playing aggressively: Vaidisova with her hard groundstrokes and Hingis by her canny drop shots and net play. In the end it was Hingis who came out on top, winning the match 7-5, 6-3 in 1 hour and 22 minutes. The match statistics show Vaidisova was better in the winners/unforced errors (26 to 23 vs. Hingis’ 18 to 20) and serve departments (4 aces to 2), but it was Hingis’ all-around game that eventually won her the match.

Martina Hingis, now guaranteed a spot in the top 20 in the WTA rankings, plays Francesca Schiavone of Italy in the next round. Schiavone (#11) breezed past Mara Santangelo 6-4, 6-0 earlier today. Hingis leads their head-to-head 2-0 and won in straight sets in Tokyo last February, however, Schiavone is known to be a clay-court specialist and will have the advantage of playing on home soil. The 3rd round encounter will get underway on Thursday.

Martina Hingis rolled past Italian qualifier Sara Errani in just fifty-five minutes and thirty-one seconds at the opening round of the Internazionali D’ Italia in Rome, Italy, 6-0, 6-1.Hingis sails to the next

In the second round, she’ll be playing Nicole Vaidisova of the Czech.It didn’t matter that Hingis’ first-serve percentage of 60 percent was lower than that of Errani’s 76 percent, and Hingis had five double faults to Errani’s one. Hingis, a champion here back 1998, made the most of Errani’s weak backhand by playing her on the her left side so as to dominate the points, which Hingis did so well.

Hingis sailed through the first set in just twenty-seven minutes and twenty-one seconds, never giving Errani any chance of holding her serve or breaking Hingis’ serve, closing it at 6-0. In the second set, Hingis, in a grand fashion, led the scoreboard at 3-0. Errani then claimed the fourth game of the second set. However, Hingis, determined to finish the game, won all of the next three games to take the second set 6-1.

After a dismal defeat to former world number one Martina Hingis, Elena Dementieva must be keen on regrouping and getting her clay court season really moving as the Internazionali D’Italia from Rome begins on Monday.
In 2005, Dementieva was sent packing in the second round, after getting a first-round bye, to Argentine Gisela Dulko.

Also heading to the Foro Italico, are current world number two Kim Clijsters, world number threeNadia Petrova, Martina Hingis, 2004 French Open champion Anastasia Myskina, Wimbledon title holder Venus Williams and 2004 US Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova.

This year Elena Dementieva is seed number five; therefore, she receives a first-round bye. As second-round action gets underway, Elena will play either clay-court specialist Lourdes Dominguez Lino or Chinese Shuai Peng. Dementieva has never met Dominguez Lino at the WTA level, but she has met Peng once before, and she surely doesn’t have good memories of it. That first meeting came in 2005, in San Diego, and she lost 5:7, 4:6. Peng would go on to claim another surprising win versus Kim Clijsters in the following round.

For the third round, the Russian is likely to meet either Marta Domachowska or German’s Anna-Lena Groenefeld, seeded eleventh. Should she reach the quarterfinals, she would probably get another showdown against Kim Clijsters. The two have faced each other three times this year already, with the Belgian claiming two out of those three meetings.

In the semifinals, the main contenders will probably feature Anastasia Myskina and Svetlana Kuznetsova.

In the final the biggest threatmay come from in-form Nadia Petrova. Patty Schnyder, as well as Venus Williams and Martina Hingis, will also be players to watch.

The Internazionali d’Italia offers a total of $1,340,000, with the winner claiming $196,900 and 300 points, while the runner-up will pocket $100,000 and 210 points.