NEW YORK (Ticker) -- On a night where former world No. 1 Steffi Graf was honored, current top-ranked player Martina Hingis was put to the test in her first-round match at the Chase Championships.

Hingis opened defense of her title with a hard-fought 7-6 (7-5), 7-6 (7-5) victory over Sandrine Testud of France.

The Swiss teenager seemed in control after winning the first-set tiebreak and breaking Testud in the opening game of the second set. But Testud managed to save a break point in the third game and broke Hingis in the fourth game.

A rejuvenated Testud received treatment on her left hand following the fifth game, but it did not affect her game as she forced a set point with Hingis serving at 4-5. But Hingis prevented a third set with a backhand winner down the line and eventually held serve.

Testud went up a mini-break at 2-1 in the tiebreak, but two straight backhand errors off her serve allowed Hingis to take a 3-2 lead.

Hingis built a 5-4 lead when Testud missed a backhand wide in the open court and was serving to close the match, but Testud hit a lunging forehand down the line to draw even. However, a netted backhand by Testud gave Hingis match point at 6-5 and she closed out her sixth straight win over Testud when the Frenchwoman hit a forehand long for her 32nd unforced error of the match.

Hingis will face fifth seed Mary Pierce of France for the third straight year in the quarterfinals. Pierce defeated Hingis in 1997 en route to the final but Hingis prevailed last year.

Dominique Van Roost of Belgium had a much easier time than expected in her first-round match tonight, dumping Elena Likhovtseva of Russia, 6-2, 6-3, in just over an hour.

Van Roost was scheduled to face fourth seed Serena Williams of the United States, but Williams -- the reigning U.S. Open champion -- withdrew after suffering a back injury in her morning practice session.

Graf, a five-time champion of this event, was saluted with a video tribute and had a banner bearing her name and the years of her Madison Square Garden titles hoisted to the top of the arena. It will hang next to Martina Navratilova's banner, the only one not belonging to the New York Knicks or New York Rangers.

Earlier today, sixth seed Nathalie Tauziat of France posted a comfortable 6-3, 7-6 (8-6) victory over South African Amanda Coetzer. Tauziat, who has claimed two of the last four tournaments she has entered, will face Van Roost in the quarterfinals.

Hingis captured her third straight Australian Open title in January, but put forth embarrassing performances in the next two Grand Slam events.

She let her temper get the best of her in her three-set loss to Graf in the French Open final and followed that with a humiliating 6-2, 6-0 first-round defeat to Australian teenager Jelena Dokic at Wimbledon.

But Hingis regained her focus since that tumultuous stretch and won three tournaments, reached the final of three others, including the U.S. Open, and reclaimed the No. 1 ranking from American Lindsay Davenport. Overall, Hingis has won a WTA Tour-leading seven titles in 1999,

Hingis defeated the then top-ranked Davenport in four sets in last year's season finale.

This event, which gathers the top 16 players in the world, offers a first prize is $500,000 from a total purse of $2 million.