Hingis juggling toward No. 1
Swiss ousts Graf while Davenport falls at Pan Pacific
Posted: Friday February 05, 1999 09:36 AM
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Hingis previously was No. 1 from March 31, 1997 to October 11, 1998. AP |
TOKYO (AP) - Australian Open champion Martina Hingis came back
from an opening-set loss to beat Steffi Graf 3-6, 6-2, 6-4 Friday
and advance to the semifinals of the Toray Pan Pacific Open.
Lindsay Davenport, the defending champion and top seed, was
upset by Amanda Coetzer of South Africa 2-6, 6-4, 6-3.
Fourth seed Monica Seles defeated sixth-seeded Anna Kournikova
of Russia 7-5, 6-3, and third-seeded Jana Novotna of the Czech
Republic advanced when Natasha Zvereva of Belarus retired with eye
problems after losing the first set 5-7.
With Davenport eliminated, Hingis can get back to the top of the
WTA rankings by beating Novotna on Saturday.
Davenport surged ahead of Hingis into the No. 1 spot on Oct. 12.
The second-seeded Hingis came back after an error-filled first
set with three service breaks against one by Graf.
Graf, seeded No. 5, went ahead 3-1 in the final set but Hingis
rebounded with some big serves, big ground shots and sharpshooting.
Graf had to take a three-minute medical time for cramps in her
left thigh midway through the final 10th game in the third set,
while Hingis entertained the crowd by juggling three tennis balls.
"Next time I'll try juggling four or five balls," the Swiss
teen-ager said. "I practiced it because we had a circus at school
when I was 9 or 10. I wasn't doing that show but everybody was
doing something."
Davenport said she hoped her loss was just a bump in the road.
"I just didn't play very smart and made a lot of errors and I
didn't serve very well. And she definitely took advantage of
that," Davenport said.
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