Bad day for No. 1
Top ranked Hingis, Sampras fall in Indian Wells
Posted: Thursday March 11, 1999 01:08 AM
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Felix Mantilla was pumped after knocking off the No. 1 Sampras. AP |
INDIAN WELLS, Calif. (AP) -- Pete Sampras and Martina Hingis, the world's top-ranked tennis players, each lost to unseeded players Wednesday, a few hours apart on the same court.
Clay court specialist Felix Mantilla shocked Sampras 7-6 (8-6), 3-6, 6-3 in their evening match at the Newsweek Champions Cup.
In the afternoon at the Hyatt Grand Champions Resort Stadium court, Chanda Rubin knocked off defending Evert Cup champion Hingis 6-3, 7-6 (7-2).
Sampras, spraying shots outside the lines, looked rusty as he lost to Mantilla, ranked 20th in the world, for the first time in three meetings with the Spaniard.
The match ended on a Sampras double fault, typical of his frustrating match.
Sampras won the Champions Cup in 1994 and 1995, but has been knocked out early the past four years.
Serena Williams, like Rubin unseeded but playing extremely well, advanced to the Evert semifinals with a 7-5, 7-6 (7-1) victory over Mary Pierce. Williams, coming off her first career title last week in Paris, upset second-ranked Lindsay Davenport in the second round of this hard court tournament.
Williams' sister, Venus, is playing only doubles in the tournament, teaming with Serena.
Also advancing to the singles semifinals were Steffi Graf, who rolled to a 6-2, 6-0 win over Jana Novotna, and Sandrine Testud, with a 6-1, 6-3 victory over Henrieta Nagyova.
Graf, the 1994 and 1996 Evert champion, faces Rubin in the semis, with Williams playing Testud.
In other Champions Cup matches, defending champion Marcelo Rios defeated Cedric Pioline 7-6 (7-3), 6-1; unseeded Mark Philippoussis beat third-seeded Alex Corretja 4-6, 7-5, 6-2; and fourth seed Carlos Moya defeated Jim Courier 7-6 (8-6), 6-4.
In her match, Rubin, ranked 26th in the world, slashed accurate shots from the baseline to send Hingis scurrying from side to side, then frequently rushed forward to seal the point with a volley.
She fought back with two service breaks after Hingis took leads of 5-4 and 6-5 in the second set.
Hingis, who won two of the five events she had played this year and reached the final in another, seemed out of synch.
Rubin, of course, had a lot to do with that, including nailing many services returns within inches of the lines. Hingis won just five of her 21 second serves, and Rubin hit 29 winners in the match to Hingis' 10.
"I wanted to take advantage of her second serves, take the opportunity to start the point off aggressively," said Rubin, 23, who is 2-1 in career matches against Hingis, 18. "I took a lot of aggressive hits at her serve."
Hingis was impressed.
"I think she played an unbelievable match," said Hingis, losing for just the third time in 18 matches this year. "I was always a step too late and too defensive.
"When I tried to come in, she would pass me with unbelievable shots."
Rubin, whose highest world ranking was sixth briefly in 1996, was sidetracked by an injury to her right wrist early that year. She underwent surgery on her wrist in August 1996 and seems finally to be getting her game back in top shape.
Off to a solid start this year, she won her second career singles title with a victory at Hobart, Australia, and beat world No. 17 Conchita Martinez in the Evert Cup second round and No. 9 Amanda Coetzer in the third round.
Then she knocked off the top player.
"I definitely would say this is the best win of my career," Rubin said. "She's No. 1 in the world, and the best player week in and week out."
Hingis said: "I think everybody knows that she always had this game, to be a top player. Since she had injuries, especially the wrist, it's been hard for her to come back. She was always tough to play."
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