MELBOURNE, Australia -- Swiss prodigy Martina Hingis made a nerveless grand slam debut on Monday as she breezed past another milestone in her young career against an opponent almost twice her age.


Hingis, just 14 and taking her first steps along the uncertain road most recently trodden by Jennifer Capriati, beat Californian Jolene Watanabe 6-0, 7-6 to become the youngest winner of a main draw match at the tournament in the Open era.


By denying her opponent a game in the opening set, in which she dropped just 11 points, she also joined some distinguished company including Boris Becker, who won both his opening sets to love on his Wimbledon debut in 1984.


Hingis outdid Becker's fellow German Steffi Graf, who fell in the first round of her initial grand slam in 1983.


Hingis, dubbed "Little Martina" on her entrance to the women's tour in Zurich last October, was named after the legendary Martina Navratilova and clearly shares the same desire to win.


On court, however, she is cool and graceful in the Chris Evert mould and is already assembling a career record which may soon justify such comparisons.


Last week she took world number seven Lindsay Davenport to three sets in Sydney and her first performance at Flinders Park delighted the large crowd that flocked to court one.


Watanabe, 12 years older than Hingis, did not help her cause with some unforced errors on a windy afternoon, but was still not prepared to start the second set without a game to her name after just 20 minutes on court. It was then time for Hingis to demonstrate her competitive side as she recovered from 5-3 down to save two set points and force a tie-break, which she calmly took 7-2.


Afterwards, the happy newcomer confirmed she had felt no pre-match anxiety "because she is behind me in the rankings."


Asked if she now felt at home amongst the seniors, the French and Wimbledon junior champion appeared taken aback.


"I am a regular player on the tour," she replied through an interpreter. "I will not play any more junior tournaments."


Hingis singled out her serve and her forehand as areas of her game which needed attention.