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In her fist appearance as world number 1 in her home country, Martina Hingis got it all right: she needed just under an hour to get by Anne-Gaëlle Sidot of France 6:3, 6:2. Over 6000 fans in the completely sold out Zentrum Schluefweg drove Hingis a her victory. For the first time in the history of the European Championships there was a sell-out crowd on a Wednesday, which also meant a new record as the old stadion only held 4300 people.
It was a much tougher day for last years champion, Jana Novotna, who struggled to stay on top of her game in the 6:0, 6:7, 6:2 win over Japanese player Ai Sugiyama.
Wednesday also marked the end of the tournament for another seeded player. Number 7 seed Irina Spirlea had to retire from the game after winning the first set and being down 1:5 in the second due to back spasms.
Another surprise came with the last single of the night, when Aranxta Sanchez Vicario of Spain lost her first round match to qualifyer Dominique Van Roost (BEL) in a hard fought three set game.
Zürich, October 15 1997
This article is taken from http://www.european-championships.com
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