American women

Seles to meet Rubin, Davenport faces Raymond in Tokyo

Davenport to Hingis: 'Stop feeling sorry for yourself' TOKYO, Feb 1 (Reuters) -- Lindsay Davenport has given Martina Hingis a no-nonsense piece of advice, telling her injured Swiss rival: "Stop feeling sorry for yourself." Hingis, who underwent ankle surgery last May, delayed her latest comeback by pulling out of last month's Australian Open, fueling speculation that the 22-year-old could retire from tennis. But Davenport said the problem was more mental for fellow former world No. 1 Hingis, who has gone four years without a Grand Slam title. "I think, mentally, she just doesn't want to be out there losing to players she had never lost to before," the American told Reuters. "I think you have to get over that fear before you are able to go back again. Coming back from injury is tough, but you have got to take your losses. You just have to deal with it." FULL STORY

TOKYO (Ticker) -- For the first time in 14 years, the semifinals of the $1.3 million Pan Pacific Open tennis event features an all-American lineup on Saturday.

Top seed Monica Seles will try to beat fourth seed Chanda Rubin for the fifth time in as many career meetings in their final four matchup.

After teaming up in the Australian Open doubles competition, No. 3 Lindsay Davenport looks to improve to 12-0 lifetime against unseeded Lisa Raymond.

In 1989, Martina Navratilova faced Mary Joe Fernandez and Lori McNeil encountered Zina Garrison in the semifinals here. Navratilova went on to conquer McNeil in the championship match.

Seles and Rubin have met twice on clay courts and another two times on hard courts. While Seles has dominated their encounters on clay, Rubin pushed the former world No. 1 to a deciding set at the 1996 Australian Open semifinals and the third round of the 2000 U.S. Open.

The Pan Pacific Open is played on carpet.

Seles made the semifinals here for the third time in four attempts, posting a 6-4, 6-4 win over Russian qualifier Lina Krasnoroutskaya on Friday.

The 29-year-old was runner-up to Martina Hingis a year ago and also advanced to the semifinals in 1999.

Seles is playing in her first event since the earliest Australian Open exit of her career. The nine-time Grand Slam winner endured a second-round loss to unheralded Czech Klara Koukalova in which the American injured her ankle.

Rubin recorded her second victory of the year against No. 8 Elena Dementieva of Russia on Friday, rallying for a 3-6, 6-1, 6-3 quarterfinals triumph.

The 26-year-old Rubin also got past Dementieva in the second round at Sydney in January.

Rubin will make her second semifinals appearance here in as many attempts. In 2000, she fell in the final four to top seed and eventual champion Hingis.

Davenport and Raymond last met in the second round at Sydney, where former world No. 1 Davenport rolled to a 6-4, 6-1 win.

Raymond, who reached the Australian Open doubles semifinals with Davenport, has captured just one set in their lifetime singles series.

Davenport advanced to the last four here with a 7-5, 7-6 (3) win over Thailand's Tamarine Tanasugarn.

The 26-year-old Davenport won the Pan Pacific title in 1998 and 2001 after losing in the final in 1995.

She did not play here last year after undergoing knee surgery. Davenport began this season with a runner-up finish at Sydney and a fourth-round loss at the Australian Open.

Entering this week ranked 30th in the world, Raymond already has recorded her best performance in three tournaments so far in 2003. The 29-year-old went out in the second round at the Australian Open.

First prize at this Tier I tournament is $189,000.

 

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Pierce self-destructs at Pan Pacific Open Seles breaks pain barrier in Pan Pacific win Dokic, Davenport advance at Pan Pacific Raymond upsets Dokic at Pan Pacific

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