TENNIS/Digest: Martina Hingis cruised into the semi-finals of the Sydney International yesterday with a 6-4 6-2 win over Sandrine Testud to boost her confidence of ending her grand slam drought at next week's Australian Open.
Competing in her first tournament since an ankle injury cost her the number one ranking last year, Hingis extended her perfect record against Testud with her 16th straight win over the Frenchwoman.
"This was the first real big test for me to see whether I was in good shape and able to compete with those girls and I am really pleased the way it came out," Hingis said.
Hingis plays Kim Clijsters in today's semi-finals after the world number five defeated her Belgian Fed Cup team-mate Justine Henin 7-6 6-2.American Meghann Shaughnessy claimed the last spot when she disposed of Alexandra Stevenson 6-4 6-1 to set up a showdown with Serena Williams, who booked her place with a 6-4 7-6 win over Amelie Mauresmo the previous night.
Switzerland's Roger Federer and rising American teenager Andy Roddick were the only two seeds to make it through to the last four in the men's tournament. Federer came from behind to defeat former world number one Marcelo Rios 6-7 7-6 6-3 while Roddick also fought back to beat Korean Lee Hyung-taik 6-7 6-3 7-5 in the best match so far.
In Auckland, sixth seed Greg Rusedski had to work overtime to reach the semi-finals of the New Zealand Open.
Playing two matches within a matter of hours, he defeated second seed Goran Ivanisevic of Croatia for the first time in 10 attempts, 6-2 0-6 6-3, in a quarter-final battle of two of the ATP Tour's biggest servers.
"After dropping the second set, I knew I had to get back to business right away," Rusedski said after a match that featured just 15 aces and a remarkable nine service breaks.
Earlier in the day, Rusedski had completed a 5-7 7-5 6-4 victory over Michal Tabara of the Czech Republic in a match halted by rain on Wednesday.
Of the four players forced into double duty, Rusedski and Switzerland's Michel Kratchovil were the only ones to reach the semi-finals.
Kratchovil swept past local favourite Mark Nielsen of New Zealand 6-3 6-2, then squeezed past Argentina's David Nalbandian 2-6 6-1 7-5.
Sweden's Jonas Bjorkman stunned top seed Marat Safin of Russia 6-3 4-6 6-3, but could not get past Jerome Golmard as the Frenchman eliminated the 1997 champion in straight sets, 6-3 6-4.
