She next faces sixth seed Monica Seles for a spot in the U.S. Open ( news - web sites) quarter-finals and feels, if anything, the injuries have made her stronger.

"Having two surgeries in less than 10 months... it definitely toughens you up in a way. You learn to be patient," she said referring to the operations she had to repair damaged ankle ligaments.

"Right now I'm not in a hurry. You learn to be patient, just try to do the best you can at this moment. You just try to get better in the next few weeks, month.

"Right now I'm looking almost into the indoor season, then into next year. You have plenty of time."

But Hingis, who blew four match points in the Australian Open ( news - web sites) final in January, is not ruling herself out of contention as she hunts for a first grand slam title since 1999.

"I feel like every time physically and mentally I'm improving, lasting longer. Yeah, everything starts coming together," she said.

"Every day passing by, I feel like I'm improving, better every match. I think I'm playing pretty good.

"To win the title? Well, that's going to be a harder task. But definitely I'm not counting it out.

"You always have hopes. As a top player, you always want to look forward to the next match and give the best.

"You've got to be realistic. I just came off surgery. I played a couple events, made quarter-finals. Maybe I wish I had done better there.

"I feel like I learn from the last two weeks, already playing a lot better here. But still there is a lot I have to catch up with. We'll see."