Something has to give

Seles, Hingis have experienced plenty of Aussie success

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) -- Monica Seles has lost just two of 44 matches at the Australian Open. Martina Hingis has won all but four of her 47 starts here. Between them they've collected seven of the last 11 Australian titles.

The pair face-off Thursday for a place in the Australian Open championship decider.

Despite their imposing records at Melbourne Park, both have struggled in recent years to match the raw power of the game's biggest sluggers.

Seles has not added to her nine Grand Slam singles titles since the 1996 Australian Open. Hingis' last major was also in Melbourne in 1999, the last of her three consecutive Australian titles. Although she has been runner-up the last two years.

Hingis beat unseeded Italian Adriana Serra Zanetti 6-2, 6-3 in the quarterfinals, while Seles overcame an injured Venus Williams 6-7 (4), 6-2, 6-3.

The winner will play either defending champion Jennifer Capriati or Belgian Kim Clijsters in Saturday's final.

"It would be great," the eighth-seeded Seles said of the prospects of another Grand Slam triumph. "I know if I keep working hard and I stay on my course, keep playing well, things are going to be good."

Seles' Australian Open win-loss percentage ranks second only to Australian Margaret Smith-Court, an 11-time winner.

Hingis, who is third on that list behind Court and Seles, is also relishing the chance to earn a sixth straight finals appearance here and another chance to end a run of 11 Grand Slam events since her last success.

Last year Hingis beat Serena and Venus Williams in successive matches before losing the final to Capriati. Like Seles, she has generally struggled against the power players in recent years.

But Hingis has no doubt she is a better player than last year, saying "everybody is improving constantly" and "if you stay stale, you're going to drop out."

The 21-year-old Swiss is in strong form so far this year and has dropped just 14 games in five matches here as she continues her return from ankle surgery last October.

She won her first tournament back, at the Sydney tuneup event earlier this month.

Hingis also owns a 12-4 record against Seles, although Seles won both their clashes last year.

"She is a great player, very consistent on both sides, with a high percentage of first serves," Seles said of Hingis. "She's just a great champion and any time you play a top-five player, or even higher, you have to go out there and play some of your best tennis."

Seles is on an 18-match winning streak, but refuses to talk about another title.

The 28-year-old Seles has won just one major since returning to the tour from a two-year absence after she was stabbed by a fan at a Hamburg, Germany, tournament in 1993.

"The only goal that I have is that I just love to play tennis," she said. "I mean, it's so simple."

 

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