AUSTRALIA Fed Cup captain John Alexander believes former world No.1 Martina Hingis faces a long road back to the top of the women's game and has warned against expecting "too much too soon".

After three years on the sidelines, Hingis, 25, yesterday had her first practice session on the Gold Coast in preparation for her return to the women's tour at the Australian women's hardcourts beginning on Sunday. She will then head to Melbourne for the Australian Open which starts on January 16.

Although he believes the Swiss star is capable of returning to the pinnacle, Alexander has suggested it will take at least 12 months before she will be consistently challenging the likes of world No.1 Lindsay Davenport, Kim Clijsters, Amelie Mauresmo and Justine Henin-Hardene.

"You simply cannot be out of the game for as long as Martina has and expect to come back and waltz into the top five or 10 in the world," Alexander said.

"Martina has to be patient. I have no doubt she can get back there. I consider her to be one of the great female players I have seen. But she must be realistic. I think she could aim to be back in the top 20 within 12 months and if she improved on that it would be a remarkable effort."

When chronic foot and ankle problems forced Hingis to retire in October 2002, the Williams sisters Venus and Serena were approaching the peak of their domination of women's tennis.

Hingis ruled the women's game in the late 1990s with a unique blend of speed and finesse, before the raw power of the Williams sisters and Davenport broke her down. Alexander believes learning to combat the burgeoning number of heavy-hitting baseliners will be Hingis' biggest challenge.

"The women's game is at an all-time high in terms of competition," he said.

"Traditionally one or two women have dominated their game for extended periods and usually they were the strongest and most athletic players in the game.

"Now you have 10 or 12 girls who have won Grand Slams competing and all of them are capable of playing strong, powerful tennis from the back of the court.

"Martina will have her work cut out because the standard of women's tennis at the moment is unprecedented."

Queensland welcomed Hingis from Zurich on Monday with sweltering conditions but she impressed onlookers in her first hit-out at Royal Pines Resort, where the hardcourts championships will be held.

Hitting-up with regular training partner, Radim Valigura of the Czech Republic, Hingis displayed some precision hitting off both hands.

A preview to Hingis' comeback:

Retiring from the game in 2002, Martina Hingis said she would never be satisfied with anything less than being the world's number one.

"I have been in the game too long not to know what it takes to get to the top, and I'm no longer capable of it," she explained.

But the 'Swiss Miss', the child prodigy who earnt her first million before she was 16, will put her reputation on the line when she begins her comeback at the WTA tournament on the Gold Coast on 1 January, nearly three years after her decision to quit.

The game has changed dramatically even in the relatively brief time she has been away.

If Hingis is encouraged that the Williams sisters have lost the aura they had in 2002, she should be equally wary that there are now a much greater number of players who can match Venus and Serena for pace, power and athleticism.

Renowned coach Nick Bollettieri, who worked with Hingis briefly in 1998, fears for his former charge.

"The biggest factor in whether she will be able to come back or not will be her serve," he told BBC Sport.

"If her serve hasn't improved, and she's up against a Mary Pierce, for example, Martina will be running for her life on every return of serve.



"Another big question mark is her movement. Martina used to control the court, but now you have a player like Kim Clijsters, who runs down every single ball and then is able to hit offensive balls too."

And although Hingis is of similar height and build to current French Open champion Justine Henin-Hardenne, Bollettieri does not see the Belgian's success as encouragement.

"Justine is a totally different player," he said.

"She's an explosive player. She can hit that big inside-out forehand, her serve is pretty good, her movement is superb. Her style of play bears no comparison to Hingis'."

Without a seeding to protect her, Hingis will not be able to avoid the likes of Clijsters and Henin-Hardenne in the early rounds of her comeback tournaments and even if she does, danger lurks at every turn.

"The game is so much stronger now than when she left," says Bollettieri.

"We're not talking about eight or 10 good players out there. If you go down to 15, 20, even 50 in the world, you have a lot of very good players.

"A lot of eyes will be on Martina and it's not going to be an easy road."

Despite his misgivings, Bollettieri says he was only "a little surprised" that the 25-year-old announced her intention to return to the game.

"She loves to compete - it's in her blood," he said.

"When she was 12, I was asked about her in an interview. I said 'she's going to be a champion because she competes well, she's very smart and she doesn't make many mistakes'.

"And I sure would like to see her get back because I've always enjoyed her as a competitor.

"I've sent her an email to her to wish her good luck but she needs more than luck.

"Her serve will be the big thing. The game is different now: if you have an apparent weakness, it's not going to be easy."

Martina Hingis won in her return to competitive tennis Monday, beating Venezuela's Maria Vento-Kabchi 6-2, 6-1 in a first-round match at the Australian women's hardcourt championships.

Look at the girl go, this is amazing.  She wins again!

From the BBC:

Martina Hingis' return to tennis continued in impressive style with a 6-3 6-2 win over Klara Koukalova at the Australian Hardcourt Championships.

Seventh seed Koukalova, the world number 35, proved to be no match for Switzerland's former world number one.

The 25-year-old is through to the quarter-finals of her first tournament since announcing her full-time return to the WTA Tour after four years away.

She faces Nuria Llagostera Vives, who upset second seed Francesca Schiavone.

MELBOURNE (Reuters) - Martina Hingis's path to the Australian hardcourt title cleared dramatically on Thursday when she survived a tough quarter-final and top seed Patty Schnyder was knocked out.

Five-times grand slam champion Hingis, making her return to professional tennis after three years in retirement, was forced into a third set by Spain's Nuria Llagostera Vives before running out a 6-2 4-6 6-0 winner.

In the last singles match on centre court, Czech Lucie Safarova then beat Schnyder 6-4 6-3 to end the Swiss world number seven's title defence.

Hingis will meet fourth-seeded Flavia Pennetta in the semis after the Italian overcame Hingis's doubles partner Tatiana Golovin of France 6-2 5-7 6-3.

"I know I can last three sets now, especially mentally," Hingis told reporters. "That was the biggest weapon I had today.

"I would've been pretty hard on myself if I had lost this match because I had it totally under control."

Teenager Safarova will meet third seed Dinara Safina in the last four after the Russian overwhelmed Spain's Anabel Medina Garrigues 6-1 6-3.

Safarova, 18, claimed her second seed this week after beating sixth seed Ai Sugiyama of Japan in the first round.

Schnyder was frequently forced into errors through Safarova's blistering groundstrokes and threw her racket in disgust twice during the match.

Hingis, a wildcard entrant at the tournament on Queensland's Gold Coast, beat world number 62 Maria Venti Kabachi 6-2 6-1 and number 35 Klara Koukalova 6-3 6-2 in earlier rounds.

But the 50th-ranked Vives, who had beaten second seed Francesca Schiavone in the second round on Wednesday, proved a tougher opponent and broke Hingis at 4-4 in the second to send the match into a deciding set.

The players took a 10-minute break under the WTA's extreme heat rule before the final set began and when it did get underway, Hingis dominated.

Vives refused to give in, though, despite being 5-0 down and she forced Hingis to five match points before the Swiss finally broke her resistance.

"I can only play match-by-match and get out there and compete," added Hingis in reference to comments from world number one Lindsay Davenport and number two Kim Clijsters that she may find it too hard to come back.

"You always have those doubts but I can only show them the results. Either you belong to the top or you don't."

Shame for Martina, she's withdrawn from the doubles with injury so hopefully it's not too bad. After her 3 previous wins I expected her to win the tournament but still an amazing re-start to her career after 3 years away.

Can't wait to see how she gets on against some of the big guns in Melbourne. I always supported Hingis in the past as I admired the way to was to to compete and outfox the big hitters despite having a less musclar physique. It was a real shame she never managed to get the French title but I don't see it happening now with the dominance of Henin, Cljisters and the Russians on that surface.

Hingis v Henin would be quite a match