Winning comeback for Hingis, Serena out with knee injury

Charles Grandmont, Reuters, Montreal, Canada

Former world number one Martina Hingis made a successful comeback on Tuesday at the Canadian Open, while the top seed Serena Williams was forced out of the tournament because of a knee injury.

Williams, the reigning French Open and Wimbledon champion, said she hoped to be fit for the U.S. Open in two weeks' time.

"The next step for me now obviously is to take a few days off and be ready for the Open which is my main goal," Williams told reporters.

"I'm very confident that I will be able to compete and perform and do well and, hopefully, walk home with the trophy."

Williams suffers from acute tendinitis in her left knee, which first emerged in 2000 and appeared again before the Los Angeles Open last week, where she lost in quarter-finals against Chanda Rubin.

Williams said she responds to treatment but wanted to preserve herself for the U.S. Open, which starts on August 26.

"I was practising a bit yesterday and I kind of aggravated my knee a little bit more, and I think it's wise at this point not to put too much pressure on it," Williams said.

Meanwhile Hingis, sidelined for three months because of an ankle injury, appeared totally in command as she outplayed qualifier Magui Serna, a 23 year-old from Spain, in 61 minutes on Centre Court.

"I felt good, she made a lot of mistakes in the beginning," Hingis said after the match. "It wasn't obviously the best tennis I ever played."

The 21-year-old Swiss, seeded six, said her ankle felt fine and appeared confident of breaking the Williams sisters domination of the women's game at the U.S. Open.

"Every match is going to be important to play before then," said Hingis, who will also play in New Haven, Connecticut, next week, before heading to New York.

She resumed training six weeks ago in Florida, after undergoing surgery to repair torn and damaged ligaments in her left ankle.

In other first round matches Chanda Rubin, fresh from beating fellow American Lindsay Davenport to win the Los Angeles Open on Sunday, saw off Russia's Tatiana Panova 6-1 6-3 while fellow American Laura Granville beat Spain's Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario 6-2 6-2.

Patty Schnyder, from Switzerland, beat Russia's Elena Likhovtseva 7-6 7-5 while Argentina Paola Suarez disposed of Italy's Rita Grande in a swift 6-0 6-4.

In a Slovakian duel, Martina Sucha beat Janette Husarova 6-2 6-2. American Lisa Raymond lost to Japan's Ai Sugiyama 6-3 6-1, while Italy's Francesca Schiavone had a tight tussle with Greece's Eleni Daniilidou 6-7 6-4 6-4.

France's Amelie Mauresmo, the seventh seed, beat Spain's Cristina Torrens Valero 6-1 6-2 in her second round match, while Colombia's Fabiola Zuluaga, who was due to play Williams, beat Meilien Tu of the U.S. 6-3 2-6 6-1 to advance to the third round.