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Saturday, September 11, 1999
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal
It's Martina vs. Serena
Martina Hingis edges Venus Williams to prevent an all-sister final after Serena Williams' ouster of Lindsay Davenport.
By Jeff Wolf
Review-Journal
NEW YORK -- Richard Williams will not realize his dream of seeing his daughters play today for the U.S. Open women's singles championship.
But Friday night's semifinals at the National Tennis Center weren't exactly a nightmare for him.
Serena Williams, 17, got past defending Open champion Lindsay Davenport 6-4, 1-6, 6-4, but instead of playing her sister, Venus Williams, today, she'll face top-seeded Martina Hingis at 1 p.m. PDT in Arthur Ashe Stadium for the Grand Slam title and $750,000.
The matches were a study in contrasts. Serena Williams' victory was far from picture-perfect, but Hingis' match featured 15 service breaks and many long rallies in front of 20,009 spectators, most of whom were cheering for the Williams duo to become the first sisters in 115 years to reach the finals of a Grand Slam event.
Hingis, 18, a native of Slovakia living in Switzerland, needed only 25 minutes to defeat the elder Williams 6-1 in the opening set, lost the second 4-6, then rallied from a 2-0 deficit to win the final set 6-3.
Hingis, the top-ranked player in the world who has 26 titles and has won 82 percent of her matches since turning pro five years ago, has traded barbs with the Williams family.
"It's nerve-wracking when you watch them and you know you have to be next on court against Venus," Hingis said.
"They're three against me. With talking, I can't beat them," she added, laughing. "So I have to try to beat them on the court."
Venus Williams, 19, showed her disappointment when she entered the post-match interview session and appeared to be near exhaustion. She began cramping and needed a three-minute injury timeout before the final game of the match, during which she committed 60 unforced errors and double faulted 11 times. In total points won, Hingis led 100-81.
Williams' most critical error came before the timeout when she double-faulted on break point to give Hingis a 5-3 lead.
"Unfortunately, I was unable to close it out," she said. "I guess cramping is just fatigue, or you're sick. I don't think I drank enough water, either."
But she was not about to use her discomfort late in the match as an excuse for not winning.
"I should have just taken my opportunities earlier so I wouldn't have had to have been out there at that point," she said, referring to serving with a 3-2 lead in the third set before losing the last four points and the game to Hingis.
With one Williams out of the way, Hingis now faces the stronger of the two.
"So far I've never been able at the same tournament to beat both of them," Hingis said. "We both had tough matches (Friday). Whoever is more patient, more calm in that match is going to win (today)."
The last time Hingis played Serena Williams, the seventh seed who has won three WTA Tour titles, was last month in Manhattan Beach, Calif. Williams defeated her in the semifinals.
The first match of the day, which was delayed for about 2 1/2 hours by a persistent rain, was far from a thing of beauty. Both Davenport and Serena Williams, who is playing in her second U.S. Open, committed more unforced errors than winners, 44-35 for Davenport and 39-28 for Williams.
In total points, Davenport actually outscored her opponent, 97-89.
One statistical edge Williams held was 12 service aces to Davenport's five.
"My serve really came through, especially in the third (set)," Williams said. "That was definitely a key."
In the telltale set, Williams was serving with a 4-3 lead in the longest game of the match. Davenport had four break points, but each time Williams' serve helped get her back to deuce, which occurred eight times.
In the final game, one of her aces was clocked at 118 mph.
"She can serve a lot of serves well," Davenport said, explaining that she can uncork a screamer, then slow the pace by 40 mph the next time.
"She has a great serve, one of the better serves in women's tennis, if not the best," Davenport added.
If that isn't a big enough concern for Hingis today, Venus Williams, who will compete with her sister for the Open doubles title after the singles match, made it sound as if a family double-team has been part of the plan all along.
"Well, now (Serena is) playing for two people," Venus Williams said.
"Hopefully, I gave Martina a good workout today."
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Martina Hingis
Photo by Associated Press
Serena Williams
Photo by Associated Press
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