Hingis in quarters

PARIS – If it all seems so long ago, that’s because it was. Five years since Martina Hingis was last in the French Open quarterfinals, seven years since she was a sobbing, petulant mess while losing in the final of the only major she hasn’t won.

Back on tour after a three-year injury hiatus, Hingis suddenly is a title contender again, playing all the right angles and flashing that familiar wry smile Monday as she wrapped up a 6-3, 2-6, 6-3 victory over No. 31 Shahar Peer in the fourth round.

“It’s a new year,” Hingis said, “new Roland Garros.”

Now comes a true test for the new Hingis: A quarterfinal today against No. 2 Kim Clijsters, the reigning U.S. Open champion and twice a runner-up at the French Open.

Eight of Hingis’ 10 losses this season have been to women who’ve won majors, including Clijsters in the Australian Open. But as Hingis pointed out: “I’ve made a lot of improvements since Australia. Everything pretty much was new. I was happy to win the first round.”

Hingis’ match against Peer was halted Sunday after two sets because of fading light, so their best-of-one-set turn Monday was a tad anticlimactic – as was men’s fourth-round action, for the most part.

Rafael Nadal, the defending champion, lugged an 0-3 career record against two-time major winner Lleyton Hewitt into their encounter, but those previous meetings were all on hard courts, and all before Nadal emerged as a star.

Nadal’s 6-2, 5-7, 6-4, 6-2 victory was his 57th consecutive win on clay and moved him closer to a possible showdown in the final against Roger Federer, who’s trying to become the first since 1969 to win four Slams in a row.

Nadal, Hewitt said, is “very much like Federer, winning so many matches that it’s sort of second nature for him. They get down break point, and they expect to get out of it.”

The tireless Australian kept things close for the better part of 2 hours, winning 11 points in a row at one point. After all, as Nadal put it: “Hewitt is someone who, when you let him grab a finger, he takes the arm.”

Nadal’s quarterfinal foe is Novak Djokovic of Serbia-Montenegro, who eliminated fellow 19-year-old Gael Monfils of France 7-6 (5), 7-6 (5), 6-3.

The Parisians were sad to see the animated Monfils go, but they do have a countryman left to support: Julien Benneteau, who reached his first Grand Slam quarterfinal when Alberto Martin of Spain quit in the first set because his back locked up. Benneteau will face No. 4 Ivan Ljubicic, a 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 winner over Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo of Spain.