Justine Henin-Hardenne began her quest to capture the world number one ranking by the end of the week with a patchy 6-0 7-6 second-round win over Spain's Conchita Martinez at the Filderstadt Grand Prix on Tuesday.

 Daniela Hantuchova defeated American qualifier Lisa Raymond 6-3 6-4 to set up a second-round showdown with top seed and defending champion Kim Clijsters but Jelena Dokic's miserable season continued with yet another defeat.

 Henin, who is bidding to topple her fellow Belgian Clijsters from the top spot, threw away a 5-2 lead in the second set before she eventually tamed former Wimbledon champion Martinez 7-1 in the tiebreak.

 "It's good in the first match to be tested a little bit," said the Belgian, who had a bye in the first round.

 "I was playing unbelievable in the first set, nearly perfect, and then at the end of the second set she started playing better.

 "Conchita has a lot of experience and she knows how to turn a match. I helped her a lot and wasn't aggressive enough but I finally came through in the tiebreak."

 Hantuchova, the world number 13 from Slovakia, managed to raise her level of play against doubles specialist Raymond when it counted.

 The willowy Hantuchova staved off two break points at 3-3 in the first set and clinched victory with a single break of serve in each set.

 VERY TOUGH

 "I was very pleased with the way I played today because Lisa is very tough to play indoors," said Hantuchova, who lost to Clijsters in last year's final.

 "I think what made the difference was that I just kept fighting even though I was down on my service games.

 "(But) there are still many things that I have to improve and against Kim I (will) have to step up and raise my level.

 "For a second round it's pretty tough to play the opponent I had in the final last year but I'm looking forward to the match.

 "I've got nothing to lose and I'll just try to do my best and see what happens."

 A dispirited Dokic, who has slumped in the rankings from ninth at the start of the year to 25th, was beaten 7-5 6-0 by Bulgaria's Magdalena Maleeva.

 Dokic served for the first set at 5-4 but then failed to win another game in the match.

 France's Mary Pierce booked a meeting with fourth seed Jennifer Capriati in the next round after overwhelming Zimbabwean qualifier Cara Black 6-2 6-0 while Elena Bovina of Russia defeated Colombia's Fabiola Zuluaga 6-2 6-4.

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