Hingis and Safina advance

Russian Dinara Safina of Russia beat Benesova 6-0, 6-1 in a second-round match comeback player Martina Hingis advanced in doubles.

Third-seeded Dinara Safina of Russia beat Iveta Benesova 6-0, 6-1 in a second-round singles match on Tuesday at the Australian women's hardcourt championships while comeback player Martina Hingis advanced in doubles.

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Hingis and Tatiana Golovin of France beat Athens Olympic doubles gold medalists Li Ting and Sun Tiantian of China 6-1, 6-4. The 25-year-old Hingis is making a return to the circuit after retiring three years ago due to a series of chronic foot injuries.

In other matches Tuesday, Czech Republic teenager Lucie Safarova had a 4-6, 7-5, 6-4 victory over Slovakian Jarmila Gajdosova, fourth-seeded Flavia Pennetta of Italy beat China's Li Na 6-2, 6-2 and eighth-seeded Anabel Medina Garrigues of Spain defeated Aiko Nakamura of Japan 6-4, 6-4.

Safarova, who won two WTA Tour titles in 2005, needed seven match points before closing out the win against Gajdosova. She will face Medina Garrigues in the quarterfinals.

Safarova is one of four Czech Republic players in the tournament, including Klara Koukalova, who takes on Hingis in a second-round singles match on Wednesday.