By Bill Scott Aug 2, 2006, 12:16 GMT
Carlsbad, California - Maria Sharapova and Martina Hingis opened their summer hardcourt campaigns at the Acura Classic Tuesday with decisive straight-set wins into the third round.
Sharapova bounced back after trailing an early break in the first set before running the table to sweep past fellow teenager Vasilisa Bardina 6-4, 6-1 in one hour, 29 minutes.
Hingis made amends for a junior loss a dozen years ago with a 6-2, 6-3 second-round victory over Meilen Tu.
The unheralded American ranked 91st beat the Swiss, aged 13, for the US Open junior title in 1994. But since then Hingis has gone onto international success while Tu still labours at age 28 in the mid-reaches of the WTA.
Hingis did beat Tu a year later in Philadelphia, a match which has all but faded from memory for the 25-year-old.
After getting oven her early deficit, second seed Sharapova was unstoppable against her compatriot, claiming her 33rd match win of the season.
'I'm excited going into a tournament feeling healthy and playing pretty well,' said the Russian. 'I felt good, we had some long rallies at the start.
'But after she broke me in the first set, I made her play a bit and put pressure on her. I felt really good out there.
'It's a matter of getting into the matches again. I'm happy to win the first round, but there's a long way to go.'
Hingis is making a storming return to tennis after three years away.
Hingis has achieved a 13th ranking and won the Italian Open title in Rome last May on clay to cement a comeback which began in January.
Tu never threatened in the 66-minute contest, with Hingis saving six break points and finding her feet after a long and draining opening game.
'I got into it after that and put more pressure on her,' said the five-time Grand Slam champion and former number 1. 'Not that the match was too difficult, but it was good to go up to 4-1 in the second set.'
Hingis, seeded eighth, won the tournament in her first outing in 1997, and was playing the event five years after losing a semi-final to Monica Seles.
The match was her first of the North American hardcourt summer after a third-round Wimbledon defeat to Japan's Ai Sugiyama, who went out Tuesday in the first round 6-1, 7-5 to Russian Vera Zvonareva.
Hingis said that she is enjoying her game as long as the wins keep coming.
'I wasn't that tired today, but my game will come around even more after a few more matches. I have to work more on conditioning, train in a different way now,' she said.
'Recovery time is not the same as when you are 17. I used to get back onto the court after an hour or two hours of rest. Now, I take three or four.'
Number 11 Daniela Hantuchova moved through into the second round over Kveta Peschke. 6-1, 4-0 the Czech retired. Number 15 Slovenia Katarina Srebotnik was untroubled by France's Marion Bartoli 6-3, 6-0.
Your Talkback on this Story