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Hingis advances to Grand Slam Cup semis

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Posted: Wednesday September 29, 1999 04:09 PM

Counting her straight-sets victory on Wednesday, Martina Hingis (above) now leads Amelie Mauresmo 3-1 in head-to-head matches. AP

MUNICH, Germany (AP) -- Top-ranked Martina Hingis gave herself an early birthday present Wednesday when she beat Amelie Mauresmo at the $6.7 million Grand Slam Cup, the richest tournament in tennis.

Hingis, who turns 19 Thursday, won 7-6 (7-1), 6-2 in a repeat of their Australian Open final and made sure of collecting at least $300,000 in the process.

Hingis said she hoped to celebrate her birthday at the Oktoberfest. She is not scheduled to play Thursday.

Tommy Haas rolled past Dominik Hrbaty 6-3, 6-2 to set up a men's quarterfinal showdown Thursday with top-ranked Andre Agassi. Agassi, the U.S. Open champion, had a first-round bye.

By ousting Hrbaty in 54 minutes, Haas earned $175,000 awarded to each of men's quarterfinalist. Hrbaty got $100,000 as a first-round loser.

Nicolas Lapentti of Ecuador had to work a lot harder to earn the money and his place in the quarterfinals.

He needed two hours and 58 minutes to overcome Fernando Meligeni of Brazil, 6-4, 2-6, 16-14. The third set was the longest in the 10 years of the tournament, which does not use a tiebreaker in the decisive set, and took 1:47. It was also the longest set on the tour this year.

Lapentti, who was a semifinalist at the Australian Open, blew a match point while serving at 5-4 in the third set.

Playing her first match since losing the U.S. Open final to Serena Williams nearly three weeks ago, Hingis served for the set at 5-3 but dropped her serve at love.

In the next game, the Swiss held a set point, which Mauresmo saved with a tremendous forehand winner to make it 5-5.

There were six breaks of serve in the first set, but Hingis dominated the tiebreaker.

Mauresmo's powerful game included too many unforced errors to trouble Hingis. The Frenchwoman dropped her serve six times, including a double-fault that gave Hingis a 2-1 lead in the second set.

She broke back for 2-2 but could not hold serve in her next two service games, hitting a forehand long to give Hingis a 5-2 lead. Hingis used a drop shot to earn three match points and a stop volley to take the match.

"It felt good to have the victory. I went a little bit down after that [the U.S. Open], I wasn't practicing," she said.

A place in the women's semifinals is worth $200,000 and Hingis also collects $100,000 as bonus for her one Grand Slam title -- the Australian Open.

After beating Mauresmo in Melbourne, Hingis caused some bad blood by describing the broad-shouldered Mauresmo "half a man." The two have met three times since then, with Hingis winning twice, and Hingis said Wednesday the incident was history.

Agassi arrived in Munich Tuesday, with Steffi Graf, from California. His new companion immediately continued to Vienna, to see her Austrian doctor. Agassi has been practicing but has declined to speak to reporters.

Whether Agassi and Graf will make their first joint public appearance in Germany remains to be seen.

Haas beat Agassi in the second round of Wimbledon last year and the two are tied 1-1.

"If he is in good shape, he'll be very tough to beat," Haas said. "It's an honor to play him. I've looked up to him since I was young."

His best chance, Haas thought, was if Graf showed up for the match. "It would be good for me if he couldn't concentrate on the match 100 percent. I hope she comes tomorrow," he said.

Agassi regained the No. 1 ranking by winning the U.S. Open two weeks ago, to add to his French Open title this year. That will also give him a $250,000 bonus here.

Haas, the Australian Open semifinalist, is the German No. 1 and ranked 11th in the world. Over the weekend, Haas was instrumental in helping Germany defeat Romania to stay in the World Group in the Davis Cup.

Haas made quick work of Hrbaty, a Slovak who reached the semifinals of the French Open but has not won another Grand Slam match since, losing in first rounds in both Wimbledon and the U.S. Open.

The tournament invites 12 men and eight women with best records at the four Grand Slam events of the year and offers more money per head than any other event.

The men's winner gets $1.3 million, while the women's champion receives $800,000.

 

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