Heartbreaker

Straight-set defeat would have been better for Hingis

Martina Hingis has lost three consecutive Australian Open finals. AP

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) -- Martina Hingis was so close to victory Saturday that she told her mother in the locker room afterward that a quick defeat would have been a relief.

Instead, the 21-year-old Swiss had four match points in the second set but couldn't close out the Australian Open final against Jennifer Capriati, who beat Hingis in straight sets in the final last year.

Playing in 95-degree heat, the top-seeded American won 4-6, 7-6 (7), 6-2.

"I wish she just kind of beat me 6-2, 6-2, and I didn't have those match points," Hingis said she told her mother, Melanie Molitor.

"She was like, 'Well, you had the chance to win it this time,' so I think it's a big step from last year," Hingis said.

Hingis was hungry for revenge, and eager to win her first Grand Slam title since Melbourne in 1999 and her sixth overall. But by the end, the heat had sapped her energy so much that she wanted to quit the court, win or lose.

"I just wanted to have it behind me, no matter what," said Hingis, who reached her sixth consecutive Australian Open final. In 2000, she lost to Lindsay Davenport.

"I just felt like my head was all over the place," Hingis said. "But after I lost the second set, she had the momentum. I really didn't believe in it anyway, even if I was up 2-1 [in the third set]. I knew I wouldn't make it."

Hingis had one match point at 5-3, two at 6-5 and a fourth in the tiebreaker of the second set. She was also leading 4-0 in that set and had a break point to go up 5-1.

On the big points, Capriati stepped up her aggressive play. Hingis said she has had trouble closing out recent matches, citing her three-set semifinal against Monica Seles.

A victory would have been vindication for Hingis, who has often struggled against the heavy hitters who dominate tennis today: Davenport, Capriati and the Williams sisters.

But the world No. 4, who recently came back from ankle surgery and has acknowledged she has wondered about her ability to win another Grand Slam, said she had exceeded her expectations.

"You can't expect everything to happen right away," she said. "It's not like you snap your fingers and you win a Grand Slam."

Hingis was fitter and sharper than in last year's final. But she often chose to slug it out with the more powerful Capriati from the baseline instead of varying the pace or coming to net.

The players took a 10-minute break before the third set to recover from the heat. But Hingis stopped going for shots, and lost a point on her serve when a linesman called consecutive foot faults at 2-3.

"I couldn't jump off my leg," Hingis said.

On her first match point, Capriati drove a forehand crosscourt into the corner on Hingis' serve. The Swiss made no effort to retrieve it and walked toward the net to shake hands as the ball careened toward the back wall.

Hingis became the youngest women's Grand Slam event champion of the 20th century when she won the Australian Open in 1997 at age 16.

 

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