Former world number one women's tennis player Martina Hingis has been ousted from the second round of the Porsche Grand Prix in Germany and will drop out of the top 10 rankings for the first time in six years.
Elena Dementieva of Russia beat the seventh-seeded Hingis, 6-3, 6-1 on Thursday. A four-time winner at the Filderstadt event, Hingis has struggled to regain her form after undergoing ankle surgery. She was not able to cope with Dementieva's powerful game and lost the second set of the match with little resistance.
Two other seeds were also ousted in their second round matches. Third-seeded Jelena Dokic of Yugoslavia appeared to be tired in her 73rd singles match of the year, as she fell to Tatiana Panova of Russia, 1-6, 6-4, 6-1. Fourth-seeded Belgian Justine Henin was also eliminated, as Swiss qualifier Myriam Casanova beat her 7-5, 4-6, 6-4.
In other matches, number-five Amelie Mauresmo of France beat Anne Kremer of Luxembourg 6-1, 6-2, while sixth-seeded Kim Clijsters of Belgium scored a 6-1, 6-2 win over former French Open winner Iva Majoli of Croatia.