Nervous Hingis prepares for return

Martina Hingis [Images] admitted to some pre-tournament nerves as she prepared to return to the Australian Open, the scene of some of her greatest triumphs.

The former world number one once dominated Melbourne Park, appearing in six consecutive Australian Open finals from 1997, winning three consecutive titles from 1997-99, before injury forced her into premature retirement in 2002.

The Swiss first played in Melbourne as a brash teenager in 1995 and the tournament is an appropriate stage as she takes the biggest step of her comeback.

"It feels different, definitely, to coming here playing in 1995 when I was 15, fearless," Hingis told reporters on Sunday.

"Ten years later, you have some butterflies in your stomach. You have to try to throw your nerves behind yourself and just focus on strategy," she said.

Hingis, granted a wild card entry for her return to Melbourne Park, faces a tough draw and will play 30th seed Vera Zvonareva of Russia [Images] in the first round on Tuesday.

Fifth seed Mary Pierce, whom Hingis beat in the final to win her first Australian title in 1997, looms in the third round.

"I'm just really trying to get ready for my first round match. I know it's not going to be easy, but really nothing is impossible, I will just really try to play good tennis, my best tennis," the 25-year-old said.

Her return to Australia has been faltering so far compared with her once lofty standards before foot and ankle injuries cut her career short.

Hingis was beaten in the semi-finals of the Australian women's hardcourt championship by Italian Flavia Pennetta in the first event of her comeback year.

She then crashed out in the first round of the Sydney International, an event she had won three times, when she was thrashed in straight sets by Justine Henin-Hardenne.

"It just really takes time, I've just got to be patient. Feeling the pace of the game takes a little longer than just a couple of events," Hingis said. The Swiss squandered four match points when she lost the final of the 2002 Australian Open to American Jennifer Capriati [Images], a defeat that hastened her retirement as she struggled to match the power of the emerging Williams sisters, Serena and Venus.

The draw has been kind to Hingis in one regard, with the Williams sisters in the opposite half.

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