SYDNEY, Jan 9: Justine Henin-Hardenne eased past Martina Hingis 6-3 6-3 in the opening round of the Sydney International on Monday to hand the former world number one her second straight defeat since announcing her comeback.

The Belgian made light work of their much-anticipated clash, cruising to victory in a little over an hour.

Lleyton Hewitt overcame a sloppy start and problems with his serve to beat Vince Spadea 2-6 7-5 6-3 in the men’s draw but former French Open champion Juan Carlos Ferrero slumped to a 4-6 6-3 7-5 loss to Australian wildcard Chris Guccione.

Hewitt chalked up 57 unforced errors and 10 double-faults before his fighting his way out of trouble although all the attention was won the women’s draw.

Hingis, who was knocked out of the semifinals of last week’s Australian women’s hardcourt championship by Flavia Pennetta in her first serious tournament in more than three years, showed some fleeting glimpses of her old form but struggled to produce the standard of tennis that saw her dominate the sport in the late 1990s.

The Swiss had not dropped a set in her two previous matches with Henin-Hardenne — both in 2000 — but her lack of match practice was evident on Monday as the Belgian ran her ragged on the Sydney International tennis centre’s centre court.

Henin-Hardenne, also making a comeback after being plagued by injuries and illness for the past two years, used her superior speed and flashy groundstrokes to expose problems with the Hingis serve.

Henin-Hardenne broke Hingis three times to snatch the opening set in 37 minutes, then once more to add the second set in 32 minutes, despite initially having some problems adjusting to the lack of pace.

The 23-year-old won the French Open last year after returning from injury but was hurt again late in the season.

Results:

Women (first round): Francesca Schiavone (ITA) bt Ai Sugiyama (JPN) 6-1, 6-2; Na Li (CHN) bt Flavia Pennetta (ITA) 6-4, 6-1; Justine Henin-Hardenne (BEL) bt Martina Hingis (SUI) 6-3, 6-3; Zi Yan (CHN) bt Anna Chakvetadze (RUS) 6-3, 6-3; Dinara Safina (RUS) bt Anna-Lena Groenefeld (GER) 6-2, 6-1; Vera Dushevina (RUS) bt Vera Zvonareva (RUS) 6-4, 3-6, 6-1; Daniela Hantuchova (SVK) bt Sania Mirza (IND) 6-4, 2-6, 6-2; Yuliana Fedak (UKR) bt Elena Likhovtseva (RUS) 6-4, 3-6, 6-3

Men (first round): Chris Guccione (AUS) bt Juan Carlos Ferrero (ESP) 4-6, 6-3, 7-5; Jurgen Melzer (AUT) bt Juan Ignacio Chela (ARG) 6-2, 7-6 (7/1); Agustin Calleri (ARG) bt Paul-Henri Mathieu (FRA) 6-4, 6-3; Lleyton Hewitt (AUS) bt Vince Spadea (USA) 2-6, 7-5, 6-3; Ivo Karlovic (CRO) bt Victor Hanescu (ROM) 7-6 (9/7), 3-6, 6-3; James Blake (USA) bt Davide Sanguinetti (ITA) 7-6 (7/4), 6-4.

CANBERRA INTERNATIONAL

CANBERRA: Results of matches in the WTA Canberra International tennis tournament on Monday:

First round: Tatiana Poutchek (BLR) bt Sophie Ferguson (AUS) 6-0, 6-2; Aiko Nakamura (JPN) bt Eva Hrdinova (CZE) 6-2, 6-2; Catalina Castano (COL) bt Sybille Bammer (AUT) 6-0, 7-5; Virginie Razzano (FRA) bt Viktoriya Kutozova (UKR) 6-7 (5/7), 6-4, 6-1; Anabel Medina Garrigues (ESP) bt Emmanuelle Gagliardi (SUI) 4-6, 7-6 (7/4), 6-1; Anastassia Rodionova (RUS) bt Marta Domachowska (POL) 6-4 6-0; Eleni Daniilidou (GRE) bt Meghann Shaughnessy (USA) 6-3, 6-3; Shayna McDowell (AUS) bt Yvonne Meusburger (AUT) 6-3, 6-1; Emma Laine (FIN) bt Tszvetana Pironkova (BUL) 6-0, 6-4.

NEW ZEALAND OPEN

AUCKLAND: Results from the New Zealand Open men’s tennis tournament on Monday:

First round: Andy Murray (GBR) bt Kenneth Carlsen (DEN) 7-5, 6-2; Stanislas Wawrinka (SUI) bt Tomas Zib (CZE) 6-3, 6-4; Robin Vik (CZE) bt Feliciano Lopez (ESP) 7-6 (8-6), 6-1; Mario Ancic (CRO) bt Mark Nielsen (NZL) 6-1, 6-2.

TASMANIAN WTA RESULTS

HOBART: Results of matches in the WTA Tasmanian International played on Monday:

First round: Jill Craybas (USA) bt Nicole Pratt (AUS) 7-5, 7-5; Severine Bremond (FRA) bt Christina Wheeler (AUS) 6-2, 6-4; Kristina Brandi (PUR) bt Arantxa Parra Santonja (ESP) 6-2, 6-2; Mashona Washington (USA) bt Emilie Loit (FRA) 6-3, 6-3; Anne Kremer (LUX) bt Klara Koukalova (CZE) 6-4, 2-6, 6-2; Jelena Kostanic (CRO) bt Martina Sucha (SVK) 6-4, 6-0; Laura Granville (USA) bt Anna Smashnova (ISR) 6-2, 6-3; Alona Bondarenko (UKR) bt Evgenia Linetskaya (RUS) 6-1, 3-6, 6-2; Mara Santangelo (ITA) bt Olga Poutchkova (RUS) 7-5, 7-5; Casey Dellacqua (AUS) bt Aleksandra Wozniak (CAN) 6-4, 2-6, 6-4.—Agencies