Hingis defeats craftswoman Mauresmo

Recapturing the deeply intellectual game that had made her the WTA Tour's most formidable performer for much of the past two years, Switzerland's Martina Hingis sunk the aspirations of unseeded French strongwoman Amélie Mauresmo 6-2, 6-3 to win her third straight Australian Open singles titles on Saturday at Melbourne Park.

In subduing the athletic Mauresmo, the 18-year-old merry trickster from Trubbach displayed a craftswoman's touch around the net, an ethereal return of serve game and a bountiful variety of groundstrokes. Moreover, Hingis defined mental toughness. "That's why I won today," said Hingis. "Physically I wouldn't have a chance against her.

The mind is more important than the rest. You definitely have to be in good shape to get to some of the balls, still, tennis is a game that doesn't go in seconds like track." The 19-year-old Mauresmo said the occasion was too much for her. "First, I have to learn to deal with being in a Grand Slam final," said Mauresmo, who will move up to No. 18 in the rankings.

"There was a lot of pressure and tension. Next time I will deal with it differently. But for being there the first time, I didn't do too bad ... It was a very big event, something I've worked my whole career to get to. It was very intense emotionally - that's what I call pressure." In the first all-teenage Australian Open final in 38 years, Hingis not only displayed superior strategy on a blustery day, but kept up with the speedy Mauresmo in sideline to sideline sprints, and showed off her newest weapon, a respectable crosscourt forehand.

This new addition effectively negated Mauresmo's money shot, her powerful rolling crosscourt forehand. "If I'm in danger, the running forehand crosscourt is more important for my tennis than [my forehand down the line]," Hingis said. Not to be denied her glory, when asked whether Mauresmo's often spectacular one-handed backhand was the most dominating in women's tennis, Hingis replied, "I think I have got a better one. Maybe she has the best one-hander, but not the two-hander. It doesn't beat me."

For her part, Mauresmo was sometimes brilliant, sometimes sloppy. After fighting off two match points in her first-round match, Mauresmo said she felt that destiny was on her side, but she was clearly nervous at the start of the Hingis encounter, when she was broken in the opening game after she double-faulted. "I was in too much of a hurry and she was very solid from the baseline," said Mauresmo, who committed 41 unforced errors.

"She played a very good defensive game." Hingis's strategy was clear from the outset: attack Mauresmo's erratic backhand and charge the net; counterpunch; and wait for her relatively inexperienced opponent to make errors. The tactic worked perfectly, as the Frenchwoman broke down at key occasions, failing to hold serve at 2-4 in the first set when she parked three straight unforced errors, and then watched Hingis caress a gorgeous backhand drop volley winner to break her to go ahead 5-2. At set point, Hingis smoked her only ace and let loose her trademark cocky grin.

Supremely confident, Hingis broke Mauresmo to open the second set, when the Tour's most successful doubles player scampered around the net, plopping in a forehand drop volley winner, at deuce, and then thundering a forehand down the line and waiting patiently for Mauresmo to belt a backhand down the line, which Hingis met with a forehand volley crosscourt winner to take the game.

"When it's really important sometimes you want to shorten up the points," said Hingis, who won 15 out of 18 net approaches. "She doesn't have the hugest passing shots, so I saw my chances at the net. When I was down, I came forward." But Mauresmo, who had fought back admirably in her upset of No. 1 Lindsay Davenport in the semifinals, broke back, finally showing some patience and using her thoroughbred legs to outlast Hingis in a long rally.

Mauresmo then held to 2-1 and for the first time in the match, the Swiss Miss felt a little unsure of herself. "She just went for winners and I felt like, 'Okay, too good, if you hit the ball like that,'" Hingis said. Hingis gritted her teeth and held to knot the set at 2-2 on a forehand crosscourt passing shot. Mauresmo, who is a decent net player, never looked comfortable approaching the mesh all day, hitting mediocre approach shots and frequently getting caught in no-man's land. The two broke each other to tie the match at 3-3, but Mauresmo, whose 177 km/h first serve keyed her win over Davenport, could never get her heater untracked, knocking in only 46 percent of her first serves in the match.

Hingis ate up Mauresmo's second serve, as the French hopeful only won 29 percent of her forays. Serving at 3-3, Mauresmo again came under fire, failing to hold off Hingis on the Swiss' second break point when she netted a backhand down the line. With Hingis serving at 4-3, Mauresmo powered three return winners to gain three break points, but Hingis produced an amazing backhand drop shot winner from the back court and Mauresmo committed two unforced errors.

Then, Hingis played her two most dazzling points of the match, crushing a two-handed backhand pass on the dead run and following it up with a fully-stretched forehand down the line passing shot. "I missed a little bit on those occasions," said Mauresmo, who hails from the small French town of Bornel but recently moved to St. Tropez. "Next time."

Mauresmo played a gutsy last game, fighting off six match points with a series of winners, but on the seventh match point, she couldn't scoop up a low Hingis forehand and pushed a volley into the net. "I put my mind together and came out great," Hingis said. "I made the more important points when I needed them.

I was more experienced and that helped me a lot." No. 2-ranked Hingis, who now owns a 21-match winning streak Down Under, said for today, at least, she felt like the best player in the world. "I was in the last two weeks,." said Hingis, who pocketed A$679,000. "But, you know, yeah."

Hingis wins Australian Open

Martina Hingis is always thinking, experimenting and learning on the court, remembering what worked in 1997 and what was not so successful in 1998.

The losses and the lessons came together with her Grand Slam experience, as the second-seeded Hingis defeated unseeded Amélie Mauresmo of France, 6-2, 6-3, in 67 minutes here Saturday in the Australian Open final, winning on her seventh match point.

At 18, Hingis became the sixth woman to have won the Australian Open three consecutive times. That notable group includes Margaret Court, Evonne Goolagong, Steffi Graf and Monica Seles. And this was her fifth Grand Slam singles championship. Hingis has appeared in seven finals, losing at the 1997 French Open and U.S. Open in September. ''I always do well here in Australia, so I was kind of expecting (it),'' she said. ''This is my surface ... how do you say it? My territory. I'm just probably a different player here. I hope I can keep it up the whole season.''

The brash Swiss teenager, who will remain No. 2 in the world behind Lindsay Davenport, also may have learned something off the court. Two days ago, she made a disparaging remark in German about Mauresmo's gender - and denied it the next day. This was coupled with innocent remarks from Davenport, who spoke about Mauresmo's powerful game and powerful build.

So, what should have been the most exciting time of Mauresmo's 19-year-old life turned into something of the nightmare, as she and her girlfriend became the fodder of tabloid headlines and TV stakeouts in Australia the last two days and the target of a popular satirical television show at home in France.

Saturday, the German media asked Hingis if she had been bothered by the controversy, and she said it was more important to ''give your answers on the court,'' not in the interview room. Hingis said she spoke to Mauresmo on the court. ''It's only between us, I think. It's between me and her and what's going on, besides us, no one else has to know,'' she said.

''I said I'm not going to talk about it. I told her something. There is nothing to apologize for.''

Said Mauresmo: ''All that has been happening is a little bit stupid. Both of them (Davenport and Hingis) apologized, so I don't want to talk about it. They apologized and that's it.'' She was asked if she was disappointed the attention had turned away from her tennis game. ''Yes, of course, anybody would be,'' she said.

Mauresmo's level of shot-making was amazing here the last two weeks, as she survived two match points in the first round, all the way through to her semifinal upset of Davenport in three sets. In the final, her major weapon - the topspin backhand down the line - often misfired, and she got in only 46 percent of her first serves.

The match did not turn theatrical and tense until the final game. Hingis led, 5-3, and Mauresmo was serving to stay in the match, and pulled out all the shots in her repertoire. In all, Mauresmo erased six match points, hitting winners on most of them, including an ace on Hingis' third match point. Finally, on match point No. 7, Mauresmo pushed a forehand volley into the net. ''I had a few occasions to come back,'' she said. ''I missed a little bit, these occasions, this time.

I'm going to learn how to deal with a Grand Slam final. There's a lot pressure and lot of tension. I think next time I am going to deal with it differently. For the first time, it wasn't too bad.'' Hingis displayed her tennis genius in the eighth game of the second set, leading 4-3. Mauresmo quickly put Hingis in trouble, earning three break points.

The first one was erased in dramatic fashion, as Hingis, almost insolently from behind the baseline, feathered over an unreachable drop shot. Two more Mauresmo errors pulled the game to deuce, and Hingis smacked two sensational passing shots on the dead run, the second a forehand down the line.

Hingis spoke highly of her opponent, who will move from No. 29 in the world to a career-best No. 17. ''If she continues playing like this, she will definitely have a big chance to be in the top 10,'' Hingis said.

Hingis wraps up singles and doubles
by Sandra Harwitt (www.tennis.com)

Never bashful, Martina Hingis was quick to tell a capacity crowd at the Australian Open after winning her third consecutive title at Melbourne Park that 'I was very good -- I couldn't be any better.' The Swiss Miss, who increased her fortune at the 'Down Under' Grand Slam to 21 straight match wins, ended the Cinderella story of unseeded Frenchwoman Amélie Mauresmo with a stunning 6-2, 6-3 final victory Saturday afternoon. With Hingis at 18 years old and Mauresmo at 19 years old, this marked the first all-teenage women's final at the Australian Open in 38 years.

That's when two Australians took to the court and 18-year-old Margaret Court defeated 19-year-old Jan Lehane in 1961. In another historical note, Hingis became one of six women players in the history of the Australian Open to win the title at least three times in their career, the first being Australian Daphne Akhurst back in the 1920s, for whom the women's trophy is named. The other players to accomplish the impressive feat were Nancye Bolton, Margaret Smith Court, Evonne Goolagong, Steffi Graf and Monica Seles.

For Hingis, a five time Grand Slam champion, this was her first major success since winning last year's Australian Open. Amazingly, Hingis has won the singles and doubles title here for three years running. 'I always do well here in Australia, so I was kind of expecting it -- this is my surface, my territory,' Hingis said, smiling. 'I did it again for the third time and I'm just probably a different player here at this tournament. 'I hope I can keep it up the whole season.'

It took Hingis a scant 67-minutes to display her muscle over the No. 29-ranked Mauresmo, a player who has been talked about non-stop at this Open because of her muscular physique. The victory provided Hingis with a flawless 3-0 career edge over Mauresmo, with their previous two encounters going the three-set distance. Mauresmo, the first unseeded woman finalist at the Australian since Chris O'Neil in 1978, admitted that nerves were a factor in this first Grand Slam final appearance. Prior to today, the best she'd ever done in at the Slams was reaching the third round at the 1998 Australian and U.S. Opens. 'She was a better player today and she played some really good tennis,' Mauresmo said. 'She has more experience at this level of competition, so, of course, she handles the pressure differently. 'It's just a very big event. I have worked for this for all my young career. So, it's a special moment, to get on the Centre Court to play a Grand Slam final. It's very big, emotionally it's very intense out there. I think that's what I call pressure.'

The Frenchwoman, who will move up the rankings to No. 18 following her performance here, knows this was an important learning experience. 'First, I think, I'm going to learn how to deal with the Grand Slam final,' Mauresmo said. 'It's a lot of pressure, a lot of tension. I think next time I'm going to deal with it differently. But for my first time I think it was solid.' Hingis came on court well aware of Mauresmo's capabilities and didn't underestimate the Frenchwoman's possibilities to create another upset at this tournament. After all, she already captured all the attention here with her amazing run to the final, most especially because of her breathtaking upset over world No. 1 Lindsay Davenport in a three-set semifinal showdown.

'I took her definitely more serious this time than the other two times when I played her,' said Hingis, who moved closer to regaining the No. 1 ranking back from Davenport as a result of her victory. 'I think I was more focused from the beginning because the last time I played her I almost lost the first set. 'I was sort of relaxed when I played her and thought pretty much I can't lose anyway.' Mauresmo is a different type of player than most on the women's tour. Unlike most of the women players, with Spaniards Arantxa Sanchez Vicario and Conchita Martinez notable exceptions, Mauresmo plays a difficult topspin brand of tennis. She also employs a rarely seen shot in the women's game -- a one-handed backhand that quite often intimidates opponents, but is still a little streaky.

Unlike Davenport's performance against Mauresmo, Hingis left nothing to chance and took command of the match immediately. Hingis served notice in the opening moments of the match, when she broke Mauresmo's serve after the Frenchwoman led 40-15 in that first game. The second set was a lot closer as Mauresmo recouped service breaks twice in the set. Nevertheless, Mauresmo was not able to salvage a third service break in the seventh game when at 30-40 she mis-hit a forehand which bypassed the baseline by a number of feet.

Mauresmo did serve notice at this tournament that she's a fighter and will never just fade away in the match. On her serve in the final game, Mauresmo escaped six match points before she could no longer prevent Hingis from a third straight title. As those match points ticked by, Hingis admitted she was thinking about the fact that Mauresmo had saved two match points in the first round against American Corina Morariu.

'The last game was just never-ending,' Hingis said. 'You could really see how she saved those match points against Morariu. 'She hit some great shots on match point. Some other girls might probably be shaky or something, but she just went for it and played some good points.' At this point the 19-year-old Mauresmo is a raw talent, with a game that still exhibits erratic tendencies that need to be tempered.

She's the type of player that goes for everything which enabled her to score 31 outright winners in the match, but also caused 41 unforced errors.

Mauresmo is similar to Hingis in that both were former ITF Junior World Champions -- Mauresmo garnered the honors in 1996 when she won the French and Wimbledon junior titles.

Hingis truly believes that Mauresmo's junior success will be of significance in the Frenchwoman's future. 'I think if she continues like this she definitely will have a big chance being in the Top 10 soon,' Hingis said. 'I think because she was a No. 1 junior in the world before, she knows how to be a champion -- she showed it at this tournament that she can beat great players. For sure, she gained some confidence here and will be very good in the future.'