Henin retires hurt against Hingis

Top-ranked Martina Hingis returned to the court for the first time since her dramatic loss to Venus Williams at the U.S. Open today and beat Belgium's Justine Henin at the Porsche Grand Prix in Filderstadt, Germany.

Top-ranked Martina Hingis returned to the court for the first time since her dramatic loss to Venus Williams at the U.S. Open today and beat Belgium's Justine Henin at the Porsche Grand Prix in Filderstadt, Germany.

Hingis, the defending champion, led 6-3, 6-0 at the $535,000 event when Henin retired with an inflamed left foot.

Afterwards the Swiss player said she was glad to have skipped the Olympics following the U.S. Open, where Hingis came within two points of beating eventual winner Williams in the semifinals before dropping the final four games.

"I wasn't mentally burned out, but I wouldn't have been able to play the Olympics. Everything went into the U.S. Open," said Hingis. "But I was excited to go out there and play again."

Bulgaria's Magdalena Maleeva also overcame cramps, but outlasted Belgium's Sabine Appelmans, 6-3, 5-7, 7-5, while Spain's fourth-seeded Arantxa Sanchez Vicario charged back from a 2-4 final set deficit to oust Zimbabwe's Cara Black, 6-2, 3-6, 6-4.

Belgium's Kim Clijsters, the 17-year-old who has charged up the rankings from 409 to 29th in two years, advanced into the third round with 6-7 (9), 3-6 victory against Germany's Jana Kandarr. She upset sixth-seeded Russian Anna Kournikova on Tuesday.

Maleeva led 5-4 and had a match point in the third set when she called for courtside treatment for cramps in her serving arm, which was later attributed to drinking too little water.

Sanchez Vicario, the world's ninth-ranked player, also had to be treated courtside during her 2 hour, 19 minute struggle with Black. The Spaniard took a spill in third set and injured her neck.

In other matches, eight-seeded Dominique van Roost of Belgium ousted Luxembourg's Anne Kremer, 7-5, 7-6 (4) and Sweden's Asa Carlsson beat Spain's Magui Serna, 6-3, 6-3.

Results from the $35,000 Porsche Grand Prix WTA tennis tournament (seedings in parantheses): First round

Dominique van Roost (8), Belgium, def. Anne Kremer, Luxembourg, 7-5, 7-6 (4). Magdalena Maleeva, Bulgaria, def. Sabine Appelmans, Belgium 6-4, 5-7, 7-5. Asa Carlsson, Sweden, def. Magui Serna, Spain, 6-3, 6-3. Second Round Kim Clijsters, Belgium, def. Jana Kandarr, Germany, 7-6 (11-9), 6-3. Arantxa Sanchez Vicario (4), Spain, def. Cara Black, Zimbabwe, 6-2, 3-6, 6-4. Martina Hingis (1), Switzerland, def. Justine Henin, Belgium, 6-3, 3-0, retired.