Hingis quick to rediscover old authority

Smarting after last weekend's thrashing by Daniela Hantuchova in the women's singles final at Indian Wells, Martina Hingis made short work of Janet Lee, a qualifier from Lafayette, Indiana, in her opening match at the Nasdaq-100 Open here yesterday.

Hingis, the third seed, won, 6-1, 6-0 to reach the third round. The 25-year-old Lee, ranked No 108 in the world, held serve for 1-1 and lost the next 11 games. "I was confident going into the match," Hingis said, "and because I know it's going to be hot I tried to save my energy, too."

The Swiss former world No 1 is due to play doubles with Anna Kournikova, with whom she has twice won the Australian Open title. The most vital of Kournikova's statistics, at least as far as tennis devotees are concerned, is 106 – her number of defeats in singles events, including the Olympic Games. In spite of this, the 20-year-old Russian has won $3m (?2.1m) in official prize- money, plus an estimated $10m per year from endorsements, a figure related to her figure.

Kournikova's latest loss came in the first round here on Thursday night to Eleni Danilidou, a 19-year-old Greek, 7-5, 6-3. The result was in accordance with rankings, Danilidou, the world No 61, being four places higher than Kournikova.

With regard to Kournikova, the result was consistent with a player without a coach. She has employed several highly rated mentors in the past, but now relies on the guidance of her mother, Alla, who no doubt does her best but is not in the same league as Melanie Molitor, who coaches her daughter, Hingis, and occasionally helps Kournikova.

"It's more for the doubles," Hingis said, "but my mom also tells her a few things for the singles. In the doubles it's worked very well, but singles is still a different story. It's also [a case] of believing in it, and believing in yourself that you you can do it." Kournikova pinpointed the reason for her defeat by Danilidou: "I didn't really feel comfortable because I haven't played enough matches." She is aware that the only remedy is to win some. "I played in Indian Wells, first round, and I didn't play so well here," she said. Between the two matches, Kournikova went to London to shoot her latest advertisement campaign.

Danilidou, who now plays Jennifer Capriati, the world No 1, in the second round, gave an uncomplicated analysis of her win: "I was positive, and Anna made more mistakes. And when she made the mistake, I was there and finished the point."

Andy Roddick, the 19-year-old standard-bearer for the future of American men's tennis, lost his opening match to Juan Ignacio Chela, of Argentina, 6-3, 2-6, 6-4. Roddick, the 10th seed, recovered well after losing the opening set but was unable to withstand Chela's consistency from the back of the court.

It was revealed here last year that Chela had tested positive for a steroid at a tournament in Cincinnati in August 2000. He was subsequently suspended for three months, and his world ranking tumbled from No 48 to No 810. On his return, Chela dominated the Challenger circuit, winning six titles, and finished the year at No 71.

"It was the worst moment of my life when I was suspended," the 22-year-old Chela said. "Coming back here is the best moment of my life." Roddick came to prominence here last year, reaching the quarter-finals with impressive wins against Marcelo Rios and Pete Sampras. His display yesterday will not count among his best moments.

* The ATP has ruled that the Liverpool International Tournament beginning on 16 June can go ahead. The event had been thrown into doubt over a ruling that states tournaments in the same week must not be staged within 100 miles of each other. The ATP has ruled that by road Nottingham is outside the 100-mile limit.