Tennis Round-up: This time last year the thought of Martina Hingis challenging for the only grand slam title to elude her would have seemed laughable. However, after beating Dinara Safina in Rome yesterday to claim her first title since ending a three-year exile from tennis, the Swiss former world number one is targeting the French Open.

With one week to go before the claycourt grand slam starts, the odds on her lifting the trophy have shortened considerably.

Her victory in the Italian Open is expected to lift her back into the top 15 in the world, meaning she will be floating dangerously as one of the second tier of seeds in Paris. "Well, I had my chances in the past," said Hingis, who finished runner-up at Roland Garros in 1997 and 1999. "This year there are many good players who can do well. The pressure is on them, it's not on me, and now with winning this event I know that I can do it again. Everyone was asking: can she really win another tournament? And now I've done it I feel I've got momentum on my side."

While all eyes will be on world number one Amelie Mauresmo, defending champion Justine Henin-Hardenne and Russia's claycourt specialist Nadia Petrova, Hingis will not be lacking confidence. Apart from claiming her first title since Tokyo in February 2002, Hingis also laid to rest an old ghost in Rome.Her semi-final victory over Venus Williams in Rome was her first since beating her en route to the Australian Open final in 2001 where she lost to Jennifer Capriati.

Meanwhile, Tommy Robredo captured his first ATP title in two years with a convincing victory over Radek Stepanek in the final of the Hamburg Masters yesterday.

The eighth-seeded Spaniard proved too strong for his Czech opponent as he swept to a 6-1, 6-3, 6-3 success. Robredo (24) dropped just one set en route to the final - against Frenchman Florent Serra in the second round - with yesterday's win marking the third singles title of his career and the first since his success at Barcelona at 2004.