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Chink in the armor Hingis suddenly vulnerable after losing doubles final
Posted: Friday January 28, 2000 12:41 PM
MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) -- With her 50-match unbeaten stretch at Melbourne Park shattered in a doubles final loss Friday, Martina Hingis forced herself straight back onto the practice court to warm up for another final. Hingis faces Wimbledon champion Lindsay Davenport in a matchup of No. vs. No. 2 in the singles final Saturday and the 19-year-old is suddenly in danger of slumping to successive losses. The top-ranked Hingis was the Australian Open singles and doubles champion the last three years. She extended her winning stretch in singles to 27 by advancing to her fourth successive final and had gone 23 doubles matches without losing until Friday's 4-6, 7-5, 4-6 loss to the No. 1 duo of Rennae Stubbs and Lisa Raymond. "It's not disappointing that I lost, it's just the way it happened," said Hingis, who surrendered four breaks of serve during the match. "I want to forget about this when I go on court tomorrow ... singles is a totally different story. "I don't feel that great right now, you never want to lose in a Grand Slam final -- singles or doubles -- but I can only get better so I have nothing to lose." Davenport spent the eve of the final resting a slight abdominal and groin strain which forced her to withdraw from Thursday's doubles semifinal against Hingis and Pierce. She said she'd had the injury for a week but aggravated it during her singles semifinal against Jennifer Capriati. She said while it was "a little bit stiff," she expected to be ready for the final. Davenport, the 1996 Atlanta Olympic gold medalist, overpowered Hingis in their three encounters last year and said she'll continue to use her aggressive serve and attacking game to unsettle the No. 1. The 23-year-old right-hander also has a 9-8 lead in career head-to-heads against Hingis, and is 2-0 in Grand Slam finals. She beat Hingis in the 1998 U.S. Open and Steffi Graf at Wimbledon last year. "I'm 2-and-0 in Grand Slam finals right now -- I'm confident I can make that 3-and-0," she said. And Davenport said she's due for a change in fortunes at the Australian Open after being ousted in the semifinals the last two years, losing to Amelie Mauresmo last year and Conchita Martinez in '98. But Hingis says she has some new strategies to counter the powerful American. "She has been able to serve very well against me and I just didn't have anything to hurt her at that time," she said. "But I think I've improved," since losing the Chase Championship final to Davenport in December. "I have been able to beat her before. I can only improve on the score right now." Neither player has lost a set en route to the final. Hingis has beaten Mirjana Lucic, Alicia Molik, Sandrine Testud and Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario in the top half of the draw, and Davenport has defeated Sarah Pitkowski, Alina Jidkova, Anna Kournikova and Julie Halard-Decugis. Hingis, who defeated Mary Pierce in 1997, Martinez in '98 and Mauresmo last year, describes the match as the "dream final," saying no two players deserve to be there more. "I think the two of us have been the most consistent players in the last three years -- it's her or me always in the semis or the finals or winning tournaments," she said. "So it's very good to have the No. 1 and No. 2 players in the Grand Slam final."
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