Martina Hingis [ Images ] continued her successful comeback to competitive tennis, though she dropped her first set, when she advanced to the semi-finals of the Australian hardcourt championships on Thursday.

The 25-year-old former world number one, returning to tennis after retiring in 2002 with foot and ankle injuries, was forced into a third set by Spain's Nuria Llagostera Vives in their quarter-final before she ran out a 6-2, 4-6, 6-0 winner.

Hingis, a wildcard entrant at the tournament on Queensland's Gold Coast, had beaten world number 62 Maria Venti Kabachi 6-2, 6-1 and number 35 Klara Koukalova 6-3, 6-2 in earlier rounds.

The 50th-ranked Vives, who had beaten second seed Francesca Schiavone in the second round on Wednesday, proved a tougher opponent and broke Hingis at 4-4 in the second to send it into a decider.

The players took a 10-minute break under the WTA's extreme heat rule before the final set began, which proved decisive with the five-time grand slam champion dominant from the beginning.

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Vives refused to give in, depite being 5-0 down, and forced Hingis to five match points before the Swiss finally broke down her resistance.

Hingis will meet either her doubles partner, France's [ Images ] Tatiana Golovin [ Images ], or fourth-seeded Flavia Pennetta [ Images ] of Italy [ Images ] in the semif-finals.