Martina Hingis firmly banished her worst Wimbledon nightmares on Tuesday, sweeping into the second round with a stylish 6-2, 6-2 win over Ukrainian teenager Olga Savchuk.
Hingis, revelling in a comeback that has already taken her to the quarter-finals of the Australian and French Grand Slams, showed all her old deftness of touch with some exquisite drop shots that left Savchuk flat-footed.
Returning to a game now dominated by power players, she berated today's coaches for not teaching women to play a more rounded game.
It was the Swiss former world number one's first appearance at Wimbledon for five years. Last time she got knocked out in the first round by Spain's Virginia Ruana Pascual.
In 1999, she suffered one of the greatest Grand Slam shocks when, as top seed, she crashed out in the first round to qualifier Jelena Dokic.
Hingis, who won Wimbledon when just three months short of her 17th birthday in 1997, is clearly in love with her tennis again, basking in the crowd's appreciation for her pinpoint accuracy and superbly angled shots.
She is winning the mind game too.
"It is as much in the head. The mental focus is so important," she told reporters after taking just one hour stretched over two days with a rain break, to coast through.
But 1.7 metre tall Hingis, who with Justine Henin-Hardenne ranks as one of the smallest players in today's top ranks, had some harsh words afterwards for today's coaches, saying they should learn from watching the finesse of her compatriot Roger Federer.
"I do not respect many of the coaches who are out there because I don't think they are doing the right thing with the girls," said the 25-year-old 12th seed.
"If you watch Roger Federer, who's playing really the top notch tennis out there ... I think you always have to learn from the best," she added.
Hingis, who relies on her guile and tactical tennis brain to get the better of the power players, said: "I'm already pretty much at the limit for the size. Justine and me, we are pretty much the smallest."
