Hingis makes brisk start

Sabine Applemans squared up to the Grand Slam equivalent of the death penalty at Roland Garros yesterday. The unseeded player faced the hanging judge Martina Hingis, who is not renowned for frivolously playing the jester to please crowds.

In that respect the black cloth was placed on the Belgian player's head 18 minutes into the match. That's how long it took for the 19year-old number one to win the first set to love, the second taking almost twice as long but with the 60, 6-4 verdict never in doubt.

Mary Pierce impressed against American Tara Snyder and proved conclusively that her pained expression isn't just a Wimbledon experience. In Paris, the Montreal-born French speaker is considered French when she wins and American when she loses. Clearly she was a local yesterday. Pierce, seeded six, walloped Snyder 6-3, 6-1, again illustrating a physical strength that could take her right to the end of this dusty red road.

Monica Seles, the third favoured player in the seedings, brought her year's total to 13 wins from 14 matches played on clay. In truth Croatian Silvija Talaja was not a threat to the three-times winner.

Seles, like Pierce, Hingis and Amelie Mauresmo was keen to make an impression and duly did so, scarcely allowing her opponent a moment's break. Mauresmo, unfairly criticised for being too muscular and more lithe than she appears on television, ran American Lilia Osterloh around the court winning 6-2, 6-3. The French girl, dressed all in black to bolster her image, evidently dominated but occasionally lapsed into some erratic phases, especially on her serve.

Mauresmo is destined for a tilt at Seles in the fourth round if she can withstand the incredible media pressure on her tennis and personal life.