Martina's diary : 18/01/98

Hi. I'm Martina Hingis. This is my first time writing a diary for the website. I hope you will be read my diaries and see the Australian Open through my eyes for the next two weeks...keep your fingers crossed for me!

So here I go:

I arrived on Sunday morning around 11am from Sydney, where I won the doubles titles with my partner Helena Sukova on Saturday.
It was really nice to return to Melbourne where I had won my first Grand Slam title last year. We checked into the same hotel as last year....because I am superstitious!!
We then left the hotel and had a quick lunch at the courts and practiced for one hour. It was nice to get out to the site and see everyone again, to see people I had not seen in a while.
I enjoy Grand Slams, there is always so much going on and so many players on the first days. I especially like the Grand Slams because there are always so many spectators starting from the first day!
We had dinner at a Chinese restaurant near the hotel. We had eaten there a few times last year and Chinese food is one of my favorite types of food. I then watched some of the Olympic swimming competition from Perth on television before going to sleep. I had played in the Hopman Cup in Perth for the last two years and I was happy to see the Australian team win while being in Australia! They were psyched to win!!!

Martina's diary : 19/01/98

Today, I came out to the courts to practice at 11:30am. My first match will not be until Tuesday, against Wiltrud Probst.
After practice we were supposed to do a picture with the "young guns" as the press are calling us with Mirjana Lucic, Anna Kournikova and the Williams sisters. So there I was, all dressed in a navy blue miniskirt and matching top--- and new shoes that I had to buy at the last minute in the morning !!!-- and we never did the picture because Serena Williams' match went too long and I had to practice again at 4pm.
So, I had to walk around in the Player's Lounge and everyone kept asking me where I was going and why I was dressed up? I laughed and said, "I'm just trying to get a date!"
We'll see if it worked...
After practicing again, we went back to the hotel and had dinner in the food court that is attached to the hotel lobby. I had sushi-- my absolute favorite food! I can not go more than one week without eating sushi!!-- though in Switzerland that is sometimes a challenge... so I settle for cooked fish.
I then relaxed and watched a movie in my rooms, "Married to the Mob", with Michelle Pfeiffer. I had already seen it, but it's a fun movie!

Martina's diary : 20/01/98

I woke up at 8 am and had breakfast at the hotel. I ate some fruit and hot chocolate, that it what I usually eat....but I was glad to eat some of the great Australian mangos!! They are really sweet here.
We then headed to the courts to practice for the first time on Center Court at 10am. I felt pretty good and then stayed in the Player's Lounge and had a little pasta as I waited for the men's match to finish (Rusedski v. Witt).
I am always very excited to play my first match at a Grand Slam tournament; it's always a special feeling to be able to play on Center Court again where I had such success last year!
I won the match. It was a good win for me because it is always good to get your first match behind you at a Grand Slam. I was glad that the Australian heat was not out today. Hopefully I can get in a few more matches - I'll take a few night matches - without the heat!!!! Last year it reached 140F, the hottest it had been in ten years!!!. Hopefully, it won't be so bad this year.

Martina's diary : 22/01/98

Well, I just finished playing my second round match against Barbara Rittner of Germany. I won 7-5, 6-1. But, I was up 5-0 in the first set and somehow it became 5-all before I knew it! I don't know what happened out there, I really didn't want to have to play those five games.

I then ate some pasta before going to do my press conference. I wanted to get something in my system before going out for my first doubles match later today. My partner is fifteen-year old Mirjana Lucic of Croatia. We have never played before so it should be interesting. She's my friend and we thought it would be fun to play together. She came to my house in Zurich last Spring and we practiced together and we also practiced a bit at the US Open.

On the non-tennis side, I went to the movies on Tuesday night to see to new Bruce Willis movie, The Jackal. He played a homosexual in the movie - so that was different from Die Hard! It was pretty good....lots of action and so much shooting!!!!. Last night I went for dinner on Lygon Street - a famous street in Carleton, the northern section of Melbourne with a lot of Italian restaurants. It's quite an experience because the restaurant owners stand outside their restaurants and call out to you to try to get you to eat in their restaurant. So we walked all the way down the street and then made our choice.

What else? We still have not done the "young guns" picture, but maybe later this week. My next match won't be until Saturday. I will play Anna Kournikova of Russia. It's funny we only play each other in Grand Slams. The first time was at the French (Open) last year and then in the semifinals of Wimbledon. There should be a huge crowd on Saturday for our match and I am looking forward to it.
Anna and I actually watched Serena Williams' match on Monday against Irina Spirlea, while we were waiting to do the photo shoot. We talked more than we watched the match!. It was nice to sit and watch a match.
That's it for now. Tomorrow is an off day for me, so that will be nice to get in some practice time and do an autograph session.

Martina's diary : 24/01/98

Well, I haven't gotten a chance to write since Wednesday, but here I am now.
Since then, I went to the Player Party on Thursday night. I got up on the stage with Anna Kournikova and Olga Barabanschikova and we danced in front of the crowd... we also took two male players on stage with us for a twirl !.
The theme for the player party was from the movie, Priscilla Queen of the Desert and I did not know that before I got there.
So, I was very surprised to see male players and coaches dressed as women. A couple of players wore Nike dresses, like the one Mary Pierce is wearing here. It was lots fun. I stayed for about two hours and left around 10pm.
The player party here in Melbourne is always one of the best ones of the year. A lot of players go and there's always great food and music.

On Friday I played my second doubles match with Mirjana against Anna Kournikova and her partner Larisa Neiland. It was good practice for me to play against Anna the day before our third round singles match. This is my first tournament playing doubles with Mirjana and let me tell you, she hits the ball so hard that I sometimes think I hear the ball whizzing by me. She just crushes the ball back to the opponents that I sometimes think that her ball will just keep on going through their racquet strings. We have fun out there. I always like to play doubles because it's a good way for me to relax on the court, but still be competitive instead of having a day off with just practice. It's also good for me mentally because in doubles you have to fake your opponent out. And that is a lot of fun when it works!!!!!!!

After doubles, I was pretty tired. We went back to the hotel and had a drink in the bar - (non-alcoholic banana shake) - and I was asleep by 11pm.
Today, Saturday, I woke up at 8:30am. I had breakfast and was at the courts by 10am. I hit for forty-five minutes and waited for the Agassi v. Gaudenzi match. Agassi won very quickly. I watched it on television and Andre was hitting the ball very well.
Unfortunately, I did not take Andre's lead...I went out there and didn't finish the match as quickly as he did....I guess I just wanted to give the Saturday spectators a bit of suspense! I think they got it....and I got some too!!! I won 6-4, 4-6, 6-4.
It was a good win - and workout - for me to go into the next rounds. Anna was hitting the ball very deep and didn't give me many chances to be aggressive and I didn't get the opportunity to come to the net often. I am just taking everything round by round.

That's it for now.

Martina's diary : 26/01/98

Well I've made it into the second week of the Australian Open. It's always a nice feeling to get through your first round matches. In the second week you know you will start to play seeded players and will have to play your best tennis to get through from the quarters to the semis and to the final.

But, first....On Saturday, I played my third round match against Anna Kournikova. On Sunday, I was supposed to play my third round doubles match, but it was rained out. I waited around for most of the day until my match was canceled. I don't know what's up with the weather this year in Australia. I wouldn't mind a little more sun to leave with more of a tan !. It also rained on and off today (Monday), but I managed to get my match on the outside Court 1 as planned.

On Sunday night I went to see the movie Rainmaker. It was okay, not great. I'm trying to go see Titantic because so many people have told me it is good. But I keep missing the earlier showings and since it is three hours long, it finishes too late for me. I'm also hoping to go see it in the "Gold Class" movie theatre. They have these separate theatre sections, called 'Gold class" where you sit in a lounge chair and can order food and drinks. Lindsay Davenport went the other night and said it was great!. It sounds like fun.

Today, (Monday) was a "first" for me. I defeated Yayuk Basuki 6-0, 6-0 and I had never defeated anyone 0 and 0 in my professional career. Just in the juniors!. I think she still was suffering from a back strain from last week in Sydney, but I was glad to win my first match 6-0, 6-0. Somehow, in the past, I always ended up losing at least one game !.
After the match, I watched the last two games of the Anke Huber v. Amanda Coetzer match in the locker room with Sabine Appelmans, Rennae Stubbs, Lisa Raymond, and Ruxandra Dragomir (who were all waiting for their doubles matches to go on) before going to press. Amanda had been up 6-2, 4-1 in the second and Anke fought back to win the second 6-4 and then again, Amanda was up 4-1 in the third and Anke came back to win 7-5. It was a great match on center court. The fans were really into the match.
After the match , I did my post match press conference, did two quick one-on-one interviews, ate and waited to play my doubles match with Mirjana that had been canceled yesterday because of the rain.
We won our match so we are in the quarterfinal round of doubles which is pretty good considering this is our first tournament as a team. We finished at 8pm and I had gotten her at 10 this morning, so this was a long day of tennis for me !.
After doubles, I finished my diary and decided to eat in the player lounge. Hopefully, later I will make it to a birthday party being thrown for another player.
That's all for today. Good night.

Martina's diary : 28/01/98

So, I just finished my quarterfinal match against Mary Pierce. I was surprised at how well I was able to play from the start. I really wanted to win this match since the last time we played was in New York at the CHASE Championships, I lost in three tight sets. So, I was very happy to get up 6-2, 5-1 so smoothly and to still feel like if I had to lift my game to the next level that I was ready.

It just feels so great to be in the semifinals and to think that I have a real chance to defend my title. I have put more pressure on myself to win and it feels good to be living up to that expectation.

Last night I ate in a Mexican restaurant, but did not have my usual favorite dish, chicken fajitas. But, it was similar. Then I watched the Sampras v. Kucera match on television in my room. WOW ! I knew that Karol can play well and that he had a good week in Sydney, but I was not expecting him to be able stay at such a high a level of tennis for the entire match against Pete. I was hoping that something like that would not happen to me today !.

By the way, Mirjana and I had a great win in doubles over the second seeds Arantxa and Manon Bollegraf !. I was doing my thing as usual, but Mirjana was out of control - just hitting everything in and hard. I think we got lucky to have reached the semifinals as a wildcard team. I did not think that we would make it this far, this easily.

So, I guess, I might have a chance to defend my doubles title as well (smile).
I'm still hoping to go see Titanic, but again, I have to play tomorrow, so I'll keep trying.

That's it. Time to sit and relax and enjoy my win.
 

January 22, 1998

On the women's side, top seed Martina Hingis struggled early but came on strong to win in straight sets and advance to a third-round battle with fellow teenager Anna Kournikova of Russia.
It was an easier day for the top-seeded Hingis. The defending champion appeared to struggle in the first set but raised her game and scored a 7-5, 6-1 win over Germany's Barbara Rittner.
"I was up 5-0, 15-love and I missed an easy forehand return, and after that she started playing better and making less errors and I wasn't hitting one ball in anymore. I was going crazy," Hingis said.
Hingis then won eight of the last nine games to close out the match, enabling to take a more light-hearted look at the first set.
"It was going pretty well and then I thought maybe I need a little bit more practice and getting a little suntan since I haven't played so much in the sun," she said.
Hingis will face Kournikova, who downed American teenager Corina Morariu, 7-5, 6-2. The 16-year-old Kournikova lost to Hingis twice in Grand Slam tournaments last year, falling to her in the third round at the French Open and the Wimbledon semifinals.
The 17-year-old Hingis defeated Rittner in the first round last year en route to her first Grand Slam title. She went on to win 12 singles titles, including Wimbledon, the U.S. Open and the Lipton Championships, and took over the number one ranking from Germany's Steffi Graf. Hingis began defense of her title on Tuesday by storming past Wiltrud Probst of Germany in straight sets.
Portions copyright © 1998 SportsTicker Enterprises LP. All rights reserved.

January 22, 1998

The tournament promoter's dream will take place on Saturday at the 1998 Australian Open, when world No.1 Martina Hingis clashes with Russian glamourous Anna Kournikova in the third round. Both teenagers won their second-round matches today: Hingis, the 17-year-old world No.1, over Barbara Rittner 7-5, 6-1 on Centre Court, and 16-year-old Kournikova over American Corina Morariu 7-5, 6-2 on Court 1.
Hingis versus Rittner on Centre Court brought a wave of deja vu, for they met same place last year, only in the first round. Rittner, a 24-year-old German whose best Grand Slam result is a defeat of Mary Pierce en route to the 1996 French Open fourth round, did not fare any better against the wondrously talented Hingis this time. In fact, the score in 1997 was today's flipped over: 6-1, 7-5.
In their meeting last year, Hingis earned a warning for flinging her racquet. This time, she led 5-0 before temporarily losing the plot, as well as five straight games. "I just thought maybe I need a little bit more practice, a little more suntan," Martina joked. After 5-0, 15-0, she said, "I didn't hit one ball in any more. I was going crazy. Three games in a row it was 30-all and I lost the important points."
The temperature hit 33 degrees during the match (a few higher on the court) but Hingis denied heat was a factor in her lapse, as it was in her cramp-afflicted loss to Venus Williams in her first match at Sydney last week. There, Martina unveiled her new look: almost Gothic black hair and brown contact lenses over her sparkling blue eyes. The cosmetic adjustments give her a graver look and her manner is less carefree too. For a start, she's saving all horse-riding excursions until the end of the tournament, unlike last year when she tumbled off a horse in the middle of the event.
"There is a little bit more pressure, or I put pressure on myself," Hingis admitted. "I want to do well again here. This is the first one (Grand Slam title) I have to defend."
The next obstacle in Hingis's defence is the imperious Kournikova, ranked 29 before this tournament. Rapturous crowds have followed the Russian's every match, every practice, every swish of her long, blonde plait. When she took the court for her first match against Katarina Studenikova the chorus of cat-calls and chants was so overwhelming that for a minute Anna thought she was an Aussie. Different match, same reaction.
Never before, said Kournikova, has the crowd support been this vocal. Over the top? "As long as they don't yell out during points." Crowd loyalty will be divided on Saturday. Both Hingis and Kournikova are superstars in the making and their contrasting personal styles will make for a fascinating contest. Their rivalry, which Hingis leads 3-0, stretches back to junior days. Their first meeting was at the 1994 Wimbledon juniors, an event Hingis won. Weeks later at the US Open juniors, they clashed again, Hingis almost reducing her younger rival to tears in a 6-0, 6-0 whitewash. Their only meeting in open ranks came in the semis of Wimbledon last year, where Kournikova was making her senior debut. Hingis won 6-3, 6-2 and went on to win the crown.
On hardcourt, Kournikova must be in with a better showing. Naturally, she is eagerly awaiting another crack at the world No.1, knowing she has nothing to lose. The strategy must remain a secret but "every time I play her I learn something," said Anna. Come Saturday, we'll see how much of it she can translate into results.
Suzi Petkovski for Inside Sport magazine.

Daily Preview : The Anna & Martina Show
by Alan Trengove ; January 24, 1998

Women's tennis - likes men's - thrives on rivalries. King v. Court, Evert v. Navratilova, Graf v. Seles produced some of the most wonderful moments in tennis history. Today on Centre Court we are privileged to watch what's likely to become an increasingly fascinating struggle for superiority between Martina Hingis and Anna Kournikova, with the proviso that a few other young ladies, such as the Williams sisters and Mirjana Lucic, will never be prepared to yield to either. Hingis, at 17, has had a head start on the 16-year-old Kournikova - but so once did Evert on Navratilova, and Graf on Seles. The Swiss won three of the four Grand Slam crowns in 1997, failing only at Roland Garros, and deposed Graf as world No. 1.

Kournikova, born in Russia, and a resident of Florida, has shown she is much more than a pin-up girl by rising in the rankings from 281 to 29 in two years. Though yet to win a title, she defeated players of the calibre of Iva Majoli, Arantxa Sanchez Vicario and Anke Huber in 1997, never lost to anyone ranked lower than 15, and made the Wimbledon semi-finals, where she lost to Hingis 6-3, 6-2. Her earlier 6-1, 6-3 defeat by Hingis came in the third round of the French Open. "Every time I play her I learn something," Kournikova said on Thursday. In a sense, both young women rely on instinct, the tactically gifted Hingis invariably playing the right shot at the right time, the light-footed Kournikova venturing more.

Hingis (1) v. Kournikova. Hingis said she took the opportunity to take a sun tan against Rittner. She'd better not risk sunburn today. Kournikova took a set off Davenport in Sydney and is due to draw closer. Hingis in three.

24/01/98 : Hingis beats Kournikova

Top seed and defending champion Martina Hingis of Switzerland kept her rivalry with Russia's Anna Kournikova very one-sided today with a 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 third-round victory today. Hingis, who earned her first Grand Slam title here last year, won her 17th straight Grand Slam match.
The 16-year-old Kournikova has lost to Hingis in three of her last four Grand Slam tournaments. Last year, she felt to the Swiss teen in the third round at the French Open and at the Wimbledon semifinals. Kournikova also lost twice to Hingis in the junior ranks and is still seeking her first victory over the world's top-ranked player. Today's match was the first time Kournikova was able to win a set from her older rival.

"I think that I showed myself that I can play her and play top players, and actually I'm pretty happy," Kournikova said. "I think I have done a good job. I was not nervous at all. I went for my shots and played my game."
"It was a good match, but it's always hard to play somebody who is around your age," Hingis said. "She's a very aggressive player. If you don't serve very well, especially on the first serves, she always attacks and comes in and she can do that pretty well. She hits the ball very flat and has a good serve, and she also tried to change it up and come in, and I had to run a lot today. I was the luckier player at the end."
The 17-year-old Hingis won 12 singles titles in 1997, including Wimbledon, the U.S. Open and the Lipton Championships, and took over the number one ranking from Germany's Steffi Graf. Despite those accomplishments, Hingis has watched Kournikova, who has never gotten past the semifinal round of any tournament, gain in popularity and praise.

"Everybody else is making the rivalry (between us)," said Hingis, who downplayed any animosity between the players. "We talk a lot together and we watched together the match of (Irina) Spirlea against (Serena) Williams. And at the players party we were dancing together and that was a lot of fun. Off court we are very good friends."
Kournikova had 34 winners, compared to 28 for her opponent, but committed 50 unforced errors. Hingis had 27 unforced errors, capitalized on six of 15 break points and took advantage of Kournikova's second serve -- winning 25 of 34 points when the Russian missed her first serve.
"Anna probably says she lost the match herself and not that I did anything special," Hingis said. "I just put the ball back in and she missed it. Usually I was the more aggressive player, but now it turned a little bit."

25/01/98 : Hingis rolls into quarterfinals

Top seed and defending champion Martina Hingis of Switzerland stormed into the quarterfinals Monday with a 6-0, 6-0 pasting of Indonesia's Yayuk Basuki at the $7.4 million Australian Open in Melbourne.
Hingis needed just 38 minutes to advance to her sixth straight Grand Slam quarterfinal, breaking Basuki's serve while never facing break point. She also won 95 percent of points on her first serve and won 52 points to Basuki's 17. The 24th-ranked Basuki committed seven double faults and 26 unforced errors while winning just 45 percent of first service points and 20 percent on her second serve.
Hingis, who earned her first Grand Slam title here last year, extending her Grand Slam winning streak to 18 matches. In the quarterfinals, Hingis will face the winner of the match between fifth seed and 1995 champion Mary Pierce of France, who lost to Hingis in last year's final, and unseeded Henrieta Nagyova of Slovakia.
Portions copyright © 1998 SportsTicker Enterprises LP. All rights reserved.

26/01/98 : Hingis, Pierce roll at Australian Open

Top seed Martina Hingis and fifth seed Mary Pierce set up a rematch of last year's final by posting double-bagel victories today at the $7.4 million Australian Open in Melbourne.
Hingis, who defeated Pierce in straight sets in last year's final, crushed Indonesia's Yayuk Basuki, 6-0, 6-0, while Pierce did the same to unseeded Henrieta Nagyova of Slovakia for her second double bagel of the tournament.
Pierce, the 1995 champion, avenged her defeat in Melbourne last year by handing Hingis her fifth and final defeat of 1997, winning in three sets at the season-ending Chase Championships in New York in November.
Hingis needed just 38 minutes to advance to her sixth straight Grand Slam quarterfinal, breaking Basuki's serve while never facing break point. She also won 95 percent of points on her first serve and won 52 points to Basuki's 17. The 24th-ranked Basuki committed seven double faults and 26 unforced errors while winning just 45 percent of first-service points and 20 percent on her second serve.
"I started out very quickly and then I didn't miss that much, but I didn't have to do that much," said Hingis. "I just could play and be aggressive on her backhand and come in. I was up 3-0 within five minutes, and after that I was probably not trying that hard anymore, because I knew that in Sydney she was injured. She wasn't in the best shape and was maybe happy to be in the fourth round."
Hingis, who earned her first Grand Slam title here last year, extending her Grand-Slam winning streak to 18 matches. The 17-year-old won 12 singles titles in 1997, including Wimbledon, the U.S. Open and the Lipton Championships, and took over the number-one ranking from Germany's Steffi Graf.

28/01/98 : Martina Wins the Rematch

Where had we seen this before? Martina Hingis v Mary Pierce, with the young Swiss at 6-2, 5-2 and matchpoint with the clock yet to run to an hour. It was, of course, the scenario in the 1997 Australian Open women's final, which Hingis won with elegant ease, 6-2, 6-2 for her first Grand Slam title.
A year later in the quarter-finals, same stage, same script. Then, only momentarily, Martina tossed the script. At 40-30 matchpoint, she attempted an uncharacteristic serve-and-volley point, elected to not play the Pierce return, then watched as it landed smack on the baseline. The reprieve was enough for Pierce to force a break of serve but not a different ending, and the world No.1 broke straight back to take the rematch 6-2, 6-3 in exactly one hour.
Expectations for the match were high: both players came through their fourth-round matches without dropping a game. For Pierce, the 1995 Australian Open champion, it was her second double bagel this tournament and her form going into the stoush was the more impressive. The statuesque Frenchwoman was undefeated in the Hopman Cup and hadn't dropped a set this week. Hingis lost a blazing match in Sydney to Venus Williams and was pushed to three sets by Anna Kournikova in the third round. Also, the 23-year-old Pierce led their meetings 4-2 and is the only player on the tour to give Martina a 6-0, 6-0 pasting (albeit the upstart was only 14 at the time). But from the first couple of games it was clear the match would not live up to its potential. Hingis, the creative counterpuncher, had lifted a level while Pierce, the kinghitter, was spraying her big shots out of court. The crowd tried to lift Mary but to no avail. She held serve twice in the first set and just once in the second - when down 1-5. The match ended with backhand error No.18 from Pierce; Hingis committed just one. Hingis even out-aced Pierce, who has one of the biggest serves on the women's tour.
"I played probably the worst match in the tournament," Mary lamented. "When you are not at your best you have to try and deal with what you have and those are the days that are important to get through. But when you are playing someone like Martina, number one in the world and a really top player, it is difficult to beat them because only a little thing makes a big difference." Mary admitted to being bamboozled by the pace on Martina's shots, or rather the lack of it. "Her pace on the ball was nowhere near what I expected, it was even slower than last time I played her. So I wasn't moving enough; I wasn't getting up to the ball, taking it on the rise. I was letting it drop and that's why I made so many unforced errors."

For her part, Hingis was pleased with her "very concentrated" performance. Having lost to Pierce in the Chase Championships in New York, the last official event of 1997, she was doubly keen to avoid a repeat. "I was nervous to play her today. I knew it would be a tough match." Pierce's error count caught Hingis by surprise. "I didn't need to play my best today," the world No.1 admitted. "I didn't make that many winners." The Sydney loss to Venus was in hindsight a blessing in disguise; it "gave me a lot to think about" and it motivated her to put in longer practice hours.
The semi-final obstacle to Martina's title defence is Anke Huber, who earlier on Centre Court eliminated Arantxa Sanchez Vicario 7-6, 7-5. Another revenge match for Martina: in a December exhibition at Frankfurt, the German won in five sets after Martina had held a matchpoint. "Another tough match," said Martina. "I need to go up another level. She (Huber) fights to the last point."
Suzi Petkovski is a feature writer for Inside Sport magazine.

28/01/98 : Hingis, Huber, victorious at Australian Open

In a rematch of last year's final, top seed Martina Hingis of Switzerland easily defeated fifth seed Mary Pierce of France again Wednesday in the quarterfinals.
Hingis dispatched Pierce, 6-2, 6-3, in 61 minutes to win her 19th straight Grand Slam match and advance to her fifth consecutive Grand Slam semifinal. She has won three of her last four matches against Pierce and secured a semifinal meeting with 10th seed Anke Huber of Germany, whom she owns a 7-1 record against. Huber's last victory over Hingis came at Philadelphia in November, 1995.
Huber, the 1996 runner-up, advanced to her third career Grand Slam semifinal with a 7-6 (9-7), 7-5 victory over seventh seed and two-time finalist Arantxa Sanchez Vicario of Spain, 7-6 (9-7), 7-5.
A year ago, Hingis became the youngest player this century to win a Grand Slam singles title when she defeated Pierce, 6-2, 6-2. Pierce, the 1995 champion, avenged her loss in Melbourne by handing Hingis her fifth and final defeat of 1997, a three-set win at the season-ending Chase Championships in New York in November. Hingis had five aces and just one double fault. She took advantage of 29 unforced errors by Pierce while committing just 10 herself.
"She (Pierce) was just hitting as hard as she could and she made a lot of unforced errors," Hingis said. "I just played my game but I served better than the other days. On the important points, I served better. I didn't need to play my best today. I was just trying to hit the ball back and didn't do that much myself. I didn't make that many winners, she just missed so many balls."
Pierce served poorly and failed to pressure Hingis on her service games. She won only 50 percent of her first service points and just five points on her second serve while converting 3-of-9 break points. Hingis was successful on 6-of-10 break points. "I played probably the worst match of the tournament," Pierce said. "I just wasn't at my best. Even when you are not at your best, you have to try to deal with what you have and those kinds of days are important to get through and win. I just felt that her pace on the ball was nowhere near what I expected. So I wasn't moving good enough. I wasn't getting up to the ball and getting it early. I was letting it drop and that's why I was making so many unforced errors."
Portions copyright © 1998 SportsTicker Enterprises LP. All rights reserved.

28/01/98 : Hingis and Martinez advance to Australian Open final

Defending champion Martina Hingis of Switzerland advanced to her fifth straight Grand Slam final today, downing 10th seed Anke Huber of Germany, 6-1, 2-6, 6-1, at the $7.4 million Australian Open in Melbourne.
Hingis, the top seed and number one player in the world, will seek her fourth Grand Slam title in the last two years when she faces eighth seed Conchita Martinez of Spain in Saturday's final. Martinez reached a Grand Slam final for the first time in almost four years, rallying past second-seeded American Lindsay Davenport, 4-6, 6-3, 6-3.

Hingis broke Huber six times and took advantage of 40 unforced errors by the 1996 finalist as she extended her winning streak in Grand Slam matches to 20 and improved to 8-1 lifetime against Huber.
"I started off unbelievably," said Hingis. "When I was in the second set and one break up, I started hitting a little bit shorter. All of a sudden, she was there. I just felt like I didn't do anything wrong, but I was still losing. I didn't feel well at the time, and lost seven straight games. It wasn't the best feeling to have out there. In the third set, I was serving against the wind, against the sun, and I was 1-0, 40-15 down. I was like, 'Hey, c'mon. I don't just want to lose this match.' I started serving more to her forehand and playing looser balls."

In a baseline battle that lasted nearly 2 1/2 hours, the 25-year-old Martinez broke Davenport seven times and took advantage of 66 unforced errors by the American to advance to her first Grand Slam final since winning Wimbledon in 1994.
"It could have gone either way," said Martinez. "It was up and down. She played really well in the first set and was hitting the ball really hard. She let me go in in the second set and I was fighting every single shot. In the third set, the key was I kept fighting."
Martinez improved to 7-2 lifetime against Davenport, including a 5-0 mark in Grand Slam play. Ranked as high as second in the world in 1996, Martinez failed to win a tournament in 1997, made just two finals and saw her year-end ranking drop to 12th. She will be seeking her 29th career singles title and first since the Moscow Open in 1996.

Hingis knows she will have a battle on her hands against the more-experienced Martinez.
"It's a Grand Slam title, she's been there," said Hingis." She knows how it feels. She has won a major tournament and I'm sure she wants to do that again. But I'll be there, and hopefully I won't allow her to do that."
Hingis and Martinez have split four lifetime meetings. Martinez defeated Hingis in the 1995 Hamburg final and the 1996 Italian Open final, both on clay. Last year, Hingis posted victories in the final of the Bank of the West Classic in Stanford, California and the quarterfinals of the Toshiba Tennis Classic in San Diego, both on hardcourts.

Hingis also advanced to the women's doubles final for the second straight year as she teamed up with 15-year-old Croatian sensation Mirjana Lucic to eliminate eighth seeds Lisa Raymond of the United States and Rennae Stubbs of Australia, 4-6, 6-4, 6-1.
Hingis and Lucic, who are unseeded, will face top seeds Davenport and Natasha Zvereva of Belarus in Friday's final.
Portions copyright © 1998 SportsTicker Enterprises LP. All rights reserved.

29/01/98 : Hingis shoots for Australian Open number two

World No1 Martina Hingis will defend her Australian Open title this Saturday, after a three set semi final victory over No10 seed Anke Huber today 6/1, 2/6, 6/1.

The tournament's No1 seed, Hingis looked like she'd booked herself an early spot in the showers, after annihilating the German in the first set in 20 minutes.
Playing in her 13th career Grand Slam and fourth Australian Open, the tiny Swiss sensation had lost just five games in her two previous matches and seemed on track for another straight sets win, when she broke Huber to lead 2/0 in the second. But Anke Huber fans took heart in the fact that the former Australian Open finalist had lost the opening set in three of her matches en route to the semi finals, including the comeback of the tournament against No3 seed Amanda Coetzer. In that match Huber, a finalist here in 1996, came from 1/4 down in both the second and third sets to post one of the most miraculous victories ever seen at Melbourne Park. True to form then, the gritty baseliner reeled off seven straight games to take the second 6/2 and lead 1/0 in the third. The centre court crowd came to life, if only for another twenty minutes. Because that is all it took the defending champion to quash any thoughts Huber had entertained of reaching the final again. Hingis broke Huber's serve three times in the decider, taking the next six games and the match in one hour and eighteen minutes.

"I started off so quickly, but things changed just as quickly. I was thinking to myself 'There's no way I can lose this match', but she was hitting the ball well in the second. All of a sudden I'd lost seven games in a row," said a relieved Hingis. "I just didn't know what to do out there not only for a minute but for 20 minutes! I was just trying not to miss the ball and not to get angry," said the teenager whose win today set up a finals showdown with No8 seed Conchita Martinez.
"I was actually still playing some juniors when she beat Martina at Wimbledon. Isn't that funny? I remember watching her on T.V that day. I was waiting for my semi finals of the junior event," said Hingis.

"If I keep on playing as well as I did in the first set, then I've got a good chance in the final. Conchita knows how a Grand Slam title feels. I'm sure she wants to do that again, but I'll be there and hopefully not allow her to do that," said Hingis.
Portions copyright © 1998 SportsTicker Enterprises LP. All rights reserved
 

29/01/98 : Hingis downs Martinez to win second straight Australian Open

Nyree Epplett of NSW Tennis News.

Top seed Martina Hingis of Switzerland captured her second straight Australian Open and fourth Grand Slam title in two years today by defeating eighth seed Conchita Martinez of Spain, 6-3, 6-3, at the $7.4 million event in Melbourne.

Hingis became the youngest player, male or female, in the Open era to defend a Grand Slam singles title, surpassing Monica Seles' record in 1991. Seles successfully defended her French Open title at the age of 17 years, six months and six days. Hingis is 17 years, four months and one day old.
"It was a lot harder than last year because there were so many expectations of me and pressure from myself, because I really wanted to defend the title," said Hingis. "I would say this is the hardest Grand Slam I had to win so far."

Hingis, who became the youngest player this century to win a Grand Slam singles title last year in Melbourne, captured her 15th career singles title, including last year's Wimbledon and U.S. Open crowns, and a first-prize check of $383,200.
Martinez, playing with an injured thigh suffered in Thursday's semifinals , struck early by breaking Hingis in the opening game of the match. But Hingis broke back at love as Martinez struggled with her first serve. Hingis broke Martinez again in the fourth game as the Spaniard hit a forehand long.
Martinez saved two set points in an eighth game that featured five deuces , but Hingis took the opening set in the next game as Martinez netted a backhand return. Hingis recorded another break in the first game of the second set, but Martinez broke back in the next game on a forehand winner. After Hingis saved a break point in the fourth game, she broke Martinez in the fifth game with a backhand winner, then closed out the match in 86 minutes with her fifth break in the ninth game.
"I had to do everything myself," said Hingis. "She would just keep the ball really low, just slashing it back all the time, and she had so much spin on every ball. So I had to do all the work myself and that was probably the hardest. I had to be patient and wait for everything, and that was difficult, because I'm not in the best shape right now. I knew she was going to give me a hard time out there, and I would have to do a lot of running. I was a little bit afraid that I could get cramps. I was happy I didn't."
Hingis, who dropped just two sets en route to the title, had a 74 percent first-serve percentage, recorded 27 winners to Martinez's 19 and won 71 points to Martinez's 54. Appearing in her first Grand Slam final since winning Wimbledon in 1994, Martinez committed 37 unforced errors and won just 43 percent of points on her first serve.
"I didn't play bad, but I didn't play great," said Martinez. "I wasn't 100 percent, that's for sure. Martina wasn't hitting the ball very hard and I was waiting for the ball to come hard instead of attacking it a little bit more. Today, patience was everything and I thought her patience wouldn't be as good, but it was. I was playing some great tennis and I thought I had a shot at it today, but she played very smart. She didn't let me attack very much and she plays the right shot all the time."
The top-ranked Hingis has won 21 straight Grand Slam matches and 34 of her last 35, dating back to last year's Australian Open. Croatia's Iva Majoli spoiled Hingis' chances of becoming only the fourth female to win the Grand Slam by defeating her in the French Open final.
Martinez, who became the first Spanish woman to win Wimbledon with her three-set victory over Martina Navratilova, was seeking her 29th career singles title and first since the 1996 Moscow Open. She will jump from 11th to eighth in next week's WTA rankings.
Ranked as high as second in the world in 1996, Martinez failed to win a tournament in 1997, made just two finals and saw her year-end ranking drop to 12th as she failed to advance past the fourth round of a Grand Slam tournament last year.

31/01/98 : Hingis overwhelms Martinez in Australian Open final

The Swiss sensation never looked in doubt to take out her fourth Grand Slam singles crown, crushing the Spaniard and former Wimbledon champion in one hour and twenty six minutes. It was her second victory at Melbourne Park in as many days.
Yesterday Hingis successfully defended her 1997 doubles title, teaming with another youngster, 15-year-old Mirjana Lucic.

"To defend a title is much harder than coming here for the first time. There was a lot of pressure on me to win again. This is the hardest Grand Slam I've had so far and I'm kind of proud of myself today," said Hingis, who at 17 years and four months, eclipses Monica Seles' 1991 record, (Seles was two months older when she won Roland for the second time).
"I didn't realise about the records. I've always been the youngest in whatever I did. But it's great when you win a Grand Slam, no matter how old you are," said Hingis who hit 27 winners to Martinez's 19.
The 25-year-old Martinez, battling a lower back injury she aggravated against Lindsay Davenport in the semis, basked in only two brief leads in the match today, when she broke Hingis first serve to lead 1/0, and early on in the second set, at 2/1. But the Spaniard's high, looping topspin style of play left her open to Hingis clever mixture of dropshots, wide serves and aggressive groundstrokes. In the end it was Martinez's enormous tally of 37 unforced errors that lost her the match.
"I didn't play bad but I didn't play great. I was on the defensive instead of attacking and I should have been a little more patient. She played a very smart game out there, and didn't give me any free points," said Martinez, content after breaking a four-year Grand Slam final drought. Martinez became the first Spanish woman to win Wimbledon in 1994, stopping Martina Navratilova short of a 10th singles Grand Slam title.

"This is a great beginning to the year. It's good to have my confidence back and I think it's going to continue like this," said Martinez, set to move from No11 to No8 on the WTA rankings on Monday.
Hingis route to the final had been not without its hiccups, the defending champion tested on two occasions, by Anna Kournikova in the third round, and Anke Huber in the semi finals. Both matches lasted three sets, Hingis later admitting that she was tested by the No29-ranked Russian.
"Kournikova was the hardest match. I started to realise I would have to do more, practise better. It's very tough to continue playing well and beating everybody. In the future I can see it will be harder to beat everybody every week," said Hingis after appearing in her fifth consecutive Grand Slam final.
"I have the first one for the year. It would be great if I could get all four," laughed Hingis.
Nyree Epplett of the Media Officer at Tennis NSW.