Kolkata: The Martina Hingis of yore could reduce seasoned power-girls into pea-brained novices, groping around for their games.

The same show of guile might not feature in her comeback year, but Melinda Czink saw exactly how she could be made to huff and puff and gasp and grunt, while her opponent effortlessly grabbed all the points. However lengthy her hiatus might have been, for the Swiss, old habits do die hard, and sometimes, they simply don't.

Breezing past Czink 6-1, 6-2 in the first round of the Sunfeast Open WTA tennis tournament at the Netaji Indoor Stadium, the World No. 9 looks in great touch to win the second title of her comeback year.

The match never promised anything other than what it eventually delivered. Quick internet searches and memory tests produced a solitary noteworthy statistic of Czink having conquered Sania Mirza in last year's event. Besides that trivia, for the average viewer, Czink was just a workhorse with a name that inspired a series of clichés (sinks and chinks to name a few).

To make matters simpler for herself, Hingis served like a dream, with good speed and deceptive placement. Czink was unlucky throughout the match with some of her Herculean efforts backed up by an appropriate soundtrack, finding the net with freakish regularity.

Bad start

She got off to a bad start serving poorly and letting slip the first game of the match. She tried everything, running after Hingis' impeccable down-the-line forehand winners, and even tried mirroring her opponent with a couple of drops of her own. The result was no different from her other attempts, with the ball neatly pouched by the net.

With her frustration levels mounting, and Hingis unrelenting, the second set was a formality waiting to be completed. The left-handed Czink showed sparks of improvement, but she was a let down again when it mattered by her own overzealous attempts at volleying and dropping, when it just wasn't a natural part of her game.

"She has played here before, and she beat Sania last time. This is my first time in India and I did not want to go back disappointed. I guess I was just in better form today," said Hingis on her match.

Continuing with her remarkable comeback, the Swiss was more than happy with her performance. "I like playing indoors, I sort of grew up playing indoors, so I'm comfortable with it," she added. "It's great to be back to tennis. I really missed it, and it feels like being back home," she said, adding that she was physically in good shape.

Kanepi loses

Tamarine Tanasugarn, a veteran in the tennis world, upset sixth-seeded Kaia Kanepi of Estonia 6-7(10), 7-5, 6-0, in the first round.

The results:

First round: Tamarine Tanasugarn (Tha) beat 6-Kaia Kanepi (Est) 6-7(10), 7-5, 6-0; Tzipora Obziler (Isr) beat Yulia Beygelzimer (Ukr) 6-2, 6-3; Tatiana Poutchek (Blr) beat Anne Keothavong (Gbr) 6-2, 6-7(5), 6-3; Abigail Spears (U.S.) beat Akgul Amanmuradova (Uzb) 6-3, 6-4.

Doubles: Yulia Beygelzimer (Ukr) & Yuliana Fedak (Ukr) beat Isha Lakhani (Ind) & Sandhya Nagaraj (Ind) 6-3, 7-5.

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