Hingis makes early exit from Sydney International

SYDNEY, Jan 8 (Reuters) Former world number one Martina Hingis's Australian Open preparations were dealt an early blow today when she was knocked out in the first round of the Sydney International by Jelena Jankovic.

The in-form Jankovic followed up her victory in Saturday's Auckland Classic final with a 6-4 4-6 6-3 win over Hingis, who suffered her second defeat in three days having lost the final of the Australian women's hardcourt championship to Dinara Safina.

Jankovic, of Serbia, should have wrapped up the match in straight sets after winning the first and racing to a 4-2 lead in the second before Hingis fought back.

The Swiss rolled off four games in a row to force the match into a deciding set with Jankovic began by showing signs of fatigue.

Jankovic called for a trainer and had her blood pressure measured but came out in the third set full of energy to run away with the decider.

''I just came from Auckland so I didn't have much time to recover, I was quite proud of how I managed to pull through,'' Jankovic said in a courtside interview.

Jankovic, who reached the U S Open semi-finals last year in her best performance yet at a grand slam event, will play Australia's Samantha Stosur in the second round after she beat Russian Vera Zvonareva 6-1 6-4.

Jankovic is ranked 12 in the world, five places below Hingis, but missed out on a seeding for Sydney because of the depth of the event, with Maria Sharapova the only player in the top 10 who did not enter the tournament.

World number one Justine Henin-Hardenne withdrew last week for personal reasons.

''Pretty much everyone is here, it's an amazing draw,'' Hingis said. ''Well, at least I'll get a few days off.'' Reuters PDS DB1327