ROME - This time last year the thought of Martina Hingis challenging for the only grand slam tennis title to elude her would have seemed laughable.
However after beating Dinara Safina in Rome on Sunday to claim her first title since ending a three-year exile from tennis, the Swiss former
world No 1 is targeting the French Open.
With one week to go before the claycourt grand slam starts, the odds on her lifting the trophy have shortened considerably.
Her victory in the Italian capital is expected to lift her back into the top 15 in the world, meaning she will be floating dangerously as one of the second tier of seeds in Paris.
"Well, I had my chances in the past," said Hingis, who finished runner-up at Roland Garros in 1997 and 1999.
"This year there are many good players who can do well in the tournament.
"The pressure is on them, it's not on me, and now with winning this event I know that I can do it again. I know I'm very close.
"Everyone was asking: can she really win another tournament? And now that I've done it I feel I've got momentum on my side.
"I feel like I just won my first title. It's like a little dream came true."
While all eyes will be on the likes of world number one Amelie Mauresmo, defending champion Justine Henin-Hardenne and Russia's claycourt specialist Nadia Petrova, Hingis will not be lacking confidence at Roland Garros.
Apart from claiming her first title since Tokyo in February 2002, Hingis also laid to rest an old ghost in Rome.
Though the main reason for her decision to quit tennis in 2002 was a recurrent ankle injury, the emergence of the Williams sisters also played a part in her thinking.
Having dominated tennis in the late 1990s, Hingis felt her grip slipping and she publicly expressed doubts that she could compete against the power game of the new generation of players, led by the American sisters.
Her semi-final victory over Venus Williams in Rome -- in which she recovered from losing the first set 6-0 -- was her first since beating her en route to the Australian Open final in 2001 where she lost to Jennifer Capriati.
"You feel you have to do something special to beat her. That's the respect we have for each other and the rivalry we've had," said Hingis.
"When I play her I don't play as loose or as free, there are probably only two or three other players where I feel like that."
- REUTERS
ROME - This time last year the thought of Martina Hingis challenging for the only grand slam tennis title to elude her would have seemed laughable.
However after beating Dinara Safina in Rome on Sunday to claim her first title since ending a three-year exile from tennis, the Swiss former
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