Martina Hingis - Teen Angel and Queen of the Courts
Sandra Harwitt
Friday, 5 September 1997


In the world of women's tennis, the 16-year-old Hingis shines far more brightly than all the other superb players making their mark in tennis.

"Well, of course, you can feel you just beat everyone in the world, you're the best in what you do," said Hingis, of currently dominating the women's game. "That's the best feeling you can have out there, knowing no one is better than you are.

"And the money is not bad, of course, either. Just go out there in the shop. If you like something, you can buy it."

Following a fairly routine 6-2, 6-4 semifinal victory over No. 6 seed, American favorite and Olympic gold medalist Lindsay Davenport in 71-minutes, Hingis will be looking for her third career Grand Slam trophy Sunday at the U.S. Open.

The world No.1 ranked Hingis, a resident of Trubbach, Switzerland, won both of her Grand Slam titles this year -- the Australian Open and Wimbledon.

She also reached the final of the French Open only weeks after having arthroscopic knee surgery after falling off her horse on April 21st, but lost to Croatian Iva Majoli.

The incredibly talented Hingis, who became the youngest ever woman to earn the No. 1 world ranking this past March, has only lost two of 64 matches played thus far in 1997.

Her semifinal opponent Friday was the other player to score success over Hingis in 1997. Davenport defeated Hingis 6-2, 4-6, 6-4 in the semifinals of last month's tournament in Los Angeles.

"I think in LA she gave me a lot more short balls that I could attack on," Davenport said.. "Today, I always felt not in an offensive position. I felt like I was kind of backing up. She hit the ball deeper than I thought she was going to hit it."

This was the seventh career meeting between Davenport and Hingis -- the two were evenly split at 3-3 before playing Friday, and all of those six matches went the distance to three sets.

"I was pretty nervous today when I went out there on the court because I didn't know what to expect from myself and from Lindsay," Hingis admitted. "Because you know all the matches were very tough we had in the past."

But Davenport, playing in her first ever Grand Slam semifinal, was more vulnerable than Hingis, especially since she's been slightly bothered by a cold.

"I don't think it affected me too much," Davenport said of having the sniffles. "I'm not tired. I didn't feel a hundred percent today. I feel a little worn down, for whatever reason.

"But I tried my hardest."

But against Hingis, trying one's hardest might not be enough.

Even though the match was hardly a stellar performance by either opponent, the score still appears rather one-sided..

Of the 18 games played, 11 featured service breaks.

Davenport broke serve in the very first game of the match, but Hingis went on to break the American's serve in the fourth, sixth and eighth games of the opening set.

The first four games of the second set featured service breaks before Hingis held serve in the fifth game. Three of the next five games were service breaks -- the players exchanged service breaks in the sixth and seventh games and Hingis secured the winning break at 15-40 in the final game of the match.

If there's any question about how Hingis manages to control every match she plays, Davenport is more than willing to offer an explanation.

"She rises to the occasion at the big tournaments," Davenport said. "She wants these titles more than any. Looking at her total record this year, she's gotten to every final but one. That just shows you how dominant of a player