Topic: Hingis defeats Bammer at Hardcourt

Associated Press

GOLD COAST, Australia - Martina Hingis beat Austria's Sybille Bammer 6-0, 6-2 on Sunday at the Australian Women's Hardcourt Championship to cap off a successful comeback year.
The former top-ranked Hingis returned here last season after three years on the sidelines and reached the semifinals. Weeks later, she made the quarterfinals at the Australian Open, an event she won three consecutive years from 1997.
The Swiss star, who finished the 2006 season at No. 7 in the world rankings, now gets New Year's Day off before a second-round meeting with either Elena Bovina or Nicole Pratt.
"I'll have a day off tomorrow and I can probably toast the win at midnight," Hingis said.
Hingis said her feelings as she ends 2006 are much different from when she began the year.
"Now I'm No. 7 in the world, I've won a couple of tournaments and played some great matches against top players so I know I can handle myself out there," she said. "Last year I didn't know and I found out after a few rounds, but it definitely took me a while to get used to the nerves."
In other matches, Colombia's Catalina Castano beat local wild-card entry Shannon Golds 6-3, 6-4, Severine Bremond of France beat Czech player Iveta Benesova 0-6, 6-4, 6-2 and Venezuela's Milagros Sequera had a 6-4, 6-2 win over Ekaterina Ivanova of Russia.