Martina Hingis slowly regaining her form

Martina Hingis cruised into the semifinals of the Sydney International on Thursday with a 6-4, 6-2 win over Sandrine Testud to boost her confidence of doing well at the Australian Open.

Competing in her first tournament since an ankle injury cost her the number one ranking last year, Hingis extended her perfect record against Testud with her 16th straight win over the Frenchwoman.

Hingis will play Kim Clijsters in Friday's semifinals after the world number five defeated her Belgian Fed Cup team mate Justine Henin 7-6, 6-2.

American Meghann Shaughnessy claimed the last semifinal spot in the women's draw when she disposed of Alexandra Stevenson 6-4, 6-1 to set up a showdown with Serena Williams, who booked her place with a 6-4, 7-6 win over Amelie Mauresmo the previous night.

The men's draw, already weakened by the early exit of all but two of the eight seeds, lost another contender when French Davis Cup hero Nicolas Escude pulled out his quarter-final with Argentine Juan Ignacio Chela.

The pair was supposed to meet in Thursday's feature night match but the game was called off when Escude informed the tournament directors he could play because of a groin strain.

"I have had this injury before, I don't know exactly what it is, but in two or three days it will be okay," Escude said.

"I f I played today I would only have been about 40 or 50 per cent and I've got a grand slam next week so I think it was best not to play."

Hingis, one of the favourites for next week's Australian Open, said she was delighted by her steady progress since returning to the game and felt she was getting close to her best.

"This was the first real big test for me to see whether I was in good shape and able to compete with those girls and I am really pleased the way it came out," Hingis said.

"The most difficult thing for me was probably to believe (in myself) again, that you can get up there and just play the way you are supposed to."

Hingis dropped an early service game in the first set but held each of her remaining games after switching from a high-kicking serve to a slicing serve.

"I played very smart and didn't make many unforced errors and that was the key to the game," the 21-year-old Swiss said.

"I am very happy with the way I am playing, where I am at this point. You can always get better at certain parts in the game but I definitely think I am going in the right direction right now."