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 Hingis is back on top Goes from emotional wreck to wrecking machine
Posted: Monday August 09, 1999 11:14 PM
STAMFORD, Conn. (Ticker) -- Switzerland's Martina Hingis officially reclaimed the No. 1 spot for the third time this season with the release of the WTA Tour rankings Monday. Hingis moved back into the top spot Saturday when Lindsay Davenport lost to Venus Williams in the semifinals of the TIG Tennis Classic in San Diego. On Sunday, Hingis put an exclamation point on her return to the No. 1 ranking with a convincing victory over Williams in the final to win her WTA Tour-leading fifth title of the year. "I didn't really expect it," Hingis said. "Coming into the tournament I was just happy to win the first round. So it's great that now I'm back at No. 1." Bitter defeats at the French Open and Wimbledon sent Hingis into an emotional tailspin and caused her to take a temporary break from the game. But she looked impressive in her return to the tour last week as she never lost a set en route to the title. "So many people wrote me telling me what to do (after the loss at Wimbledon)," Hingis said. "Many players told me that I'm young with plenty of time. It was very encouraging." The reigning Australian Open champion, Hingis is 47-7 this season (44-7 on tour). In addition to her five titles, she has reached two finals, a pair of semifinals, and two quarterfinals. Davenport, who must defend titles at this week's Acura Classic in California and at the U.S. Open in three weeks, slips to second in the latest rankings. Steffi Graf of Germany, who aggravated a left hamstring injury last week, is ranked third. Williams and an injured Monica Seles of the United States fill out the top five.
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