Hingis lifts Melbourne misery

Hingis was stunned by Capriati in the Melbourne final

Martina Hingis rebounded from her setback in the Australian Open final with a 6-3 6-3 thrashing of Zimbabwe's Cara Black in the second round of the Pan Pacific Open on Wednesday.

Top seed and world number one Hingis looked far more her usual self than the tired player who ran out of steam against Jennifer Capriati in the Melbourne final, as she beat Black in under an hour in Tokyo.

Hingis, trying for an unprecedented third straight Pan Pacific title, surrendered just four points in the first four games.

Third seed Anna Kournikova narrowly avoided a major upset against Japanese qualifier Saori Obata in her second-round match, winning 7-6 1-6 6-4.

Confident Kournikova

Kournikova double faulted at 30-40 to go down 3-4 in the final set, but gained a break in the following game, charging hard to the net to force Obata to make a backhand error.

The strategy is simple - attack

  Martina Hingis

The match ended abruptly when Obata double faulted on Kournikova's first match point at 30-40 in the 10th game.

"When I was down 3-4, I knew she didn't have a great serve, so I knew I could always break her serve and hold mine," Kournikova said. "So I was pretty much still confident.

"In the beginning, I played really well. I just lost my focus and the girl started to get used to the pace and the match. I had to fight for each point.

Majoli through

"I was always in control, but I had to take the risks, because the girl was just keeping the ball in play. I must hit a winner or miss. That's why I kind of went up and down," she said.

Hingis was delighted with her performance against Black, and outlined her new approach.

"The strategy is simple - attack," Hingis said.

"I think I played some of my best tennis ever during the Australian Open, so there is no need to get physically much stronger or anything."

In a first-round match, sixth seed Elena Likhovtseva had little trouble beating American Corina Morariu 6-3 6-2 while number eight seed Magdalena Maleeva of Bulgaria stormed past Belgium's Els Callens 6-3 6-4.

Anne-Gaelle Sidot of France was taken to three sets by American Jennifer Hopkins before triumphing 3-6 6-2 6-3 while Iva Majoli of Croatia beat Australian Nicole Pratt 6-4 6-0.