Martina Hingis needed only 46 minutes Tuesday to complete a 6-0, 6-1 win over Australian Nicole Pratt at the Australian Women's Hardcourt Championship.
The former top-ranked Hingis returned to this tournament 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, had little trouble with Pratt, who said before the match that she would not be intimidated by Hingis.
``I have the ability to step it up at different times and I've got a few tricks up my sleeve,'' Pratt said on Monday. ``I'm going to take it to her.''
But Pratt only briefly overpowered Hingis, breaking the Swiss player's service in the opening game of the second set before losing the next six games.
``I think I came out well-prepared and I knew she had the crowd behind her,'' said Hingis. ``I knew what to expect from her, even though we've played only once in the Hopman Cup. She's been on tour a long time but so have I.''
Hingis said her results in her comeback year have given her confidence for 2007.
``I've come a long way,'' said Hingis. ``I've made it back into the top 10 and I know what to expect from myself and my game. If I win, great. If I lose, my world's not going to change anymore and I'm going to be the same.''
Dinara Safina of Russia won her first-round match against countrywoman Elena Likhovtseva 6-3, 6-2.
Italian Tathiana Garbin and Russia's Elena Vesnina were other players to advance to the final eight.
Vesnina upset seventh-seeded Katarina Srebotnik of Slovenia 6-3, 6-2. Catalina Castano of Colombia beat sixth-seeded Li Na of China 6-4, 1-6, 6-2 in another second-round match.
