Henin beats wild card; Mauresmo wins after layoff

Updated: May 9, 2007, 2:48 PM ET

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Associated Press

BERLIN -- Top-ranked Justine Henin and Amelie Mauresmo advanced to the third round of the rain-soaked German Open on Wednesday.

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Henin defeated German wild card Tatjana Malek 6-1, 6-3, and Mauresmo played her first match since an appendectomy operation in March, eliminating China's Yan Zi 6-3, 6-3.

Henin stayed on track for a fourth title at this clay-court warmup for the French Open. She won the French in 2003, '05 and '06.

"It gives me a lot of confidence when I win here, especially since I like to take a rest before the French Open," Henin said.

Mauresmo, ranked No. 3, worked to get the kinks out of her game.

"She had 10 break chances against me in the first set, but I won the key points," Mauresmo said. "I wasn't frustrated -- I knew that I wasn't able to play completely the way I wanted yet."

Malek said she was rattled facing Henin.

"I had no idea she played that fast," Malek said. "I was too nervous. I'd never seen her before except on television."

Defending champion Nadia Petrova, third-seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova, No. 4 Martina Hingis, No. 5 Jelena Jankovic and No. 12 Ana Ivanovic also advanced on a day when several players had to finish rain-delayed matches before playing a second match.

The seventh-seeded Petrova, who beat Henin in last year's final, topped Severine Bremond 6-4, 6-2 and Kuznetsova beat Sybille Bammer, 6-1, 7-5.

Hingis, the 1999 champion, edged Kateryna Bondarenko 7-5, 7-6 (7) on her return to the tour after six weeks out with tendinitis. Jankovic ousted Anabel Medina Garrigues, 6-3, 2-6, 7-5 and Ivanovic beat Elena Likhovtseva 6-3, 6-2.

"I didn't want it to go three sets," Hingis said. "I'm not 100 percent ready to come back, but I don't want to wait any longer."

Patty Schnyder, seeded 15th, beat Roberta Vinci and then routed Virginia Ruano Pascual 6-0, 6-1. Alona Bondarenko beat No. 6 Tathiana Garbin 6-4, 6-2; Zuzana Ondraskova ousted No. 11 Daniela Hantuchova 6-4, 6-2; and Martina Mueller eliminated No. 13 Shahar Peer 6-2, 7-6 (2).