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What rivalry?
Hingis rolls past Williams, will face Seles in semis
Posted: Tuesday June 02, 1998 05:33 PM
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Hingis will face three-time champion Monica Seles in one of Thursday's semifinals (AP) |
PARIS (AP) -- Martina Hingis was right. For now, at least on clay, Venus Williams is not her rival.
In a swirling wind that tamed Williams' terrifying serve, Hingis used precision and poise to counteract the American's power in a 6-3, 6-4 victory Tuesday in the French Open quarterfinals.
Hingis will face three-time champion Monica Seles in one of Thursday's semifinals. No. 2 seed Lindsay Davenport will play two-time champion Arantxa Sanchez Vicario in the other.
With Davenport and Seles advancing, there are two American women in the French Open semifinals for the first time since Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert reached the final four in 1987.
In the men's quarterfinals, No. 3 seed Marcelo Rios blew his chance to overtake Pete Sampras as the No. 1 player in the world when he lost 6-1, 2-6, 6-2, 6-4 to Carlos Moya.
Rios could have reclaimed the No. 1 spot, which he held for four weeks earlier this spring, if he had beaten 12th-seeded Moya and advanced to the semifinals.
Moya, who celebrated his win by tossing his white bandana into the stands, is the top seed left in the men's draw. Also advancing to the semifinals was No. 15 Felix Mantilla, his Spanish compatriot, who ousted 1995 champion Thomas Muster in four sets.
Though Williams has moved from No. 22 to No. 7 in the world this year, the top-ranked Hingis repeatedly has said she doesn't consider Williams -- or anyone else -- a legitimate rival.
She backed up her words against Williams, who hurt herself with 38 unforced errors in a sloppy match dominated by gusts that left the center-court flagpoles clanging.
"I don't think I was as patient as I should have been. I guess everyone knows I like to hit," Williams said. "I suppose I got a little too excited, really wanted to hit a winner. Maybe sometimes prematurely, also. Of course, I have to do away with that."
Hingis was handed a white rose by a young fan as she left the court, giving him a towel in return. Williams left without signing autographs.
"I was always leading in the match. I never thought she could beat me," said Hingis, who won all the Grand Slam tournaments except the French Open last year. "I never thought she could hurt me."
Hingis came into the match with a 5-2 career record against the eighth-seeded Williams, but the two 17-year-olds were 2-2 this year.
While Williams has declared she'll be No. 1 in the world before long, Hingis points to her commanding lead in the rankings and downplays suggestions of a rivalry.
The match promised to be an intriguing battle between the power of the 6-foot-1 1/2 Williams and the all-court mastery of the 5-7 Hingis. Despite her far greater experience on the pro tour, Hingis actually is 3 1/2 months younger than Williams.
But, just as in their only previous Grand Slam encounter, a 6-0, 6-4 win by Hingis in the U.S. Open final last summer, the match turned into a one-sided affair.
Hingis moved Williams all around the court, making it tough for her to set up for powerful groundstrokes.
Williams has "all the time in the world, again, to shop" (AP) | |
"She grew up on clay in Europe, I grew up on hard," said Williams, whose first tennis lessons came on municipal courts in Compton, California. "I think she probably plays a little better on the clay because she's played there all her life."
Hingis took a quick 3-0 lead, breaking Williams in the second game. On one serve, the racket slipped from Williams' hands and tumbled toward the net.
Williams held her serve and relaxed a bit, bouncing on the court and rattling the braids in her hair after standing stiffly in the first three games. Then she took advantage of two double faults by Hingis to break for 3-2.
But Hingis immediately broke back, getting to game point when Williams misjudged an easy return and let it drop on the line. Hingis finished the first set in 38 minutes.
Williams' younger sister, Serena, joined their mother in the VIP box for the start of the second set and Williams held her serve easily. Before the next game she stomped on the clay, as her family yelled encouragement.
Williams won the next three points, giving her three break points, but Hingis hit two aces to begin a run of five straight points and avoided the service break.
They stayed on serve until 3-3, but Williams made two forehand errors -- turning to her family with a pained expression -- and then double faulted twice to give Hingis the break.
Each player held serve and then, with Hingis preparing to serve for the match, Williams took a three-minute break to change dresses.
"I was dirty. I can't appear that way," said Williams, who fell during the previous game. "I don't like that clay all on me. I had to change my skirt."
Hingis said she was not bothered by Williams' disappearance.
"She had to walk there and back, so it makes her tired," Hingis said. "I was just sitting there in the chair. I had time to relax."
Williams saved one match point, but pushed a backhand long to give Hingis the victory. The two met at the net for a cursory handshake.
"It's probably good for me to lose so I can really see what I'm doing wrong and really look at myself and say, `Venus, you're not there,"' Williams said. "I guess I have all the time in the world, again, to shop. I wish it weren't so."
For all the talk about a teen revolution in women's tennis, Hingis was the only teenager to make the semifinals.
No. 4 seed Sanchez Vicario, 26, defeated 19-year-old Patty Schnyder 6-2, 6-7 (5-7), 6-0. Seles, 24, won 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 over Jana Novotna.
Davenport, who turns 22 next Monday, reached the French Open semifinals for the first time with a 6-1, 5-7, 6-3 win over defending champion Iva Majoli. But clay is her least favorite surface, and Davenport declared herself the underdog against Sanchez Vicario.
"If I was a betting person or a journalist, I would overlook myself also," she said. "I'm just an ordinary girl playing tennis and having success. That's a boring story."
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