Martina Hingis held off a determined challenge from 19-year-old Shahar Peer, defeating the young Israeli 6-3, 2-6, 6-3 in the fourth round of Roland Garros.Hingis Stops Peer; Reaches Quarterfinals

Both players entered the match having previously won their last tournaments: Rome for Hingis and Istanbul for Peer.

In a match that featured rallies and tactical point construction, both players appeared dead even in the first two sets before the match was suspended due to darkness late Sunday evening. When play was continued on Court 1 on Monday, the early stages of the set showed what a tight battle it was going to be. The first game lasted 14 minutes, which Hingis won on her 3rd break point. Peer immediately broke back and took a 2-1 lead before Hingis raised her level of play to reel off 4 straight games. Peer managed to break the Hingis serve for 5-3, but in the end surrendered the the final set 6-3 on an unforced error. The entire match took 2 hours and 8 minutes.

It was a well-played round for both players. Both fired more winners than unforced errors and chased down balls all over the court. At times it seemed as if Hingis got a little impatient and went for too much too soon, but when she finally settled, she opened up the court very well and won the points. Peer also showed why she won 2 clay tournaments this year before coming to Paris. She played solid tennis throughout and was especially strong in the second set.

Martina Hingis faces 2nd seed Kim Clijsters in the quarterfinals. It will be a rematch of the Australian Open earlier this year, when the Belgian beat Hingis in 3 sets. About the prospect of meeting Clijsters again, Hingis had this to say,”I’ve made a lot of improvement since Australia. We’ll see. Just got to come up with the best”.

The quarterfinal takes place tomorrow.

Related posts:

1. Hingis Stuns Dementieva; Reaches Berlin Quarterfinals
2. Martina Hingis Sails Into The Quarterfinals
3. Hingis Fights But Loses Against Clijsters
4. Martina Advances Into The Quarterfinals
5. Dementieva in third round: Next up Shahar Peer