Martina Hingis had her second stroll in Melbourne Park today as she took another step towards her first Grand Slam title for three years at the Australian Open. The 21-year-old Swiss miss, who underwent ankle surgery in October and returned only last week, beat German Greta Arn 6-1 6-2.
Hingis is scheduled to play Venus Williams in the semi-finals, which would be a repeat of the match she won 6-1 6-1 at the same stage last year. That, however, was followed by defeat to Jennifer Capriati and after that Hingis lost in the semi-finals in the French Open to Capriati again, then suffered a shock loss to world number 83 Virginia Ruano-Pascual in the first round at Wimbledon and went out to Serena Williams in the US Open semi-finals.
Meanwhile, Venus Williams battled on through the pain barrier to claim a two set victory over fellow American Kristina Brandi. The number two seed has been struggling with tendinitis in her left knee, but despite being visibly hampered by the problem the Wimbledon and US Open champion still managed a 6-3 6-4 win in under an hour. Williams was operating at about 25% in terms of movement and agility and chose to stay standing at most of the changeovers.
Afterwards, she revealed she was considering pulling out of the tournament altogether but decided to carry on. "I think my dad might have talked me out of playing, but he's not here. If I was playing a top player I think my chances would have been very slim, but God blessed me. I think I was just really fortunate. I'm pretty experienced in dealing with injuries, so I'm hoping for the best. Serena was not able to play, so I felt I had to give it my all," she explained.
Eighth seed Monica Seles also breezed through to the next round, dropping only two games to Zimbabwean Cara Black.
Filed by Shane Murray & Amanda Fennelly
