MONTREAL, Aug. 15 (UPI) -- Switzerland's Martina Hingis received a wild card berth in the U.S. Open Thursday and then celebrated with an impressive win at the Rogers AT&T Cup.
Playing in her first event since ankle surgery in May, the 21-year-old Hingis rolled into the quarterfinals with a 6-4, 6-2 victory over Clarissa Fernadez of Argentina.
The former world No. 1 had surgery on May 20 to repair a torn ligament and three loose ligaments in her left ankle. She was expected to be sidelined for about four months, but made a rapid return from the surgery and also will play in next week's Pilot Pen.
In Friday's quarterfinals, Hingis will face No. 3 seed Jelena Dokic of Yugoslavia, who overcame a slow start to oust American Alexandra Stevenson, 1-6, 7-5, 6-1.
Despite an injury-filled year, the 19-year-old Dokic won titles at Sarasota and Birmingham, England, where she dropped just one set in the tournament.
Dokic also reached the final at the Paris Indoor event, but defaulted to Venus Williams due to a right thigh strain. The same injury forced her to retire at Antwerp and to withdraw from Memphis and Scottsdale. A stomach virus forced her out in the semifinal at Amelia Island and the thigh injury sidelined her in the semis at Hamburg.
No. 2 seed Jennifer Capriati reached the round of eight with a 6-1, 7-5 conquest of Japan's Ai Sugiyama. She next plays No. 5 seed Justine Henin of Belgium, a 6-3, 7-6 (7-2) winner over Francesca Schiavone of Italy.
Austria's Barbara Schett pulled off the day's biggest upset, surprising No. 4 seed Kim Clijsters of Belgium, 6-4, 6-4.
Schett reached her first Tier 1 quarterfinals since Moscow last year. She has beaten two top-20 players in the same tournament for just the fourth time in her career. The 26-year-old ousted No. 16 Chanda Rubin of the United States in the second round Wednesday.
Next up for Schett is No. 8 seed Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia, who routed South Africa's Amanda Coetzer, 6-1, 6-3.
The final quarterfinal matchup pits No. 7 Amelie Mauresmo of France against Fabiola Zuluaga of Colombia.
Mauresmo needed a pair of tiebreakers to get past American Laura Granville, 7-6 (9-7), 7-6 (7-5), while Zuluaga dispatched Virginia Ruano Pascual, 6-3, 6-2.
