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Davenport dumps Hingis

If there's one player who is red hot on the circuit, it is Lindsay Davenport.

She took her third title in as many weeks and, in the process, powered past world number one and top-seed Martina Hingis 4-6 6-4 6-3 to win the $450,000 Acura Classic.

The hard-hitting Californian has four titles this year, and is ranked number two in the world.

This marks yet another stage in the ongoing rivalry, with Hingis narrowly leading their personal head to head 6 wins to 5.

"To beat the world number one where I used to come and watch tennis as a little girl, and to win three in a row, this is a great ending for the whole month," said Davenport, who grew up a mere 20 minutes from Manhattan Country Club, venue of the tournament.

On Davenport's second match point, Hingis appeared to hit a winning lob and the crowd cheered, only to see Davenport race back to make the return, then hit a backhand volley into the open court to complete a fine win.

"Lindsay played great the last three tournaments, so she has got to take a break now and let someone else win," joked Hingis, who hasn't won a tournament in three months.

Davenport took command early, in front of a partisan home crowd. Ahead by 4-2, she let the first set slip away with three unforced errors as Hingis broke her twice in winning the final four games, and the set 6-4.

But Hingis, who reached her first final since May when she took the Italian Open, never looked comfortable returning Davenport's booming serves. Davenport further kept the world number one off balance by alternating her serves down the middle or kicking them wide to the left or right.

"Some of the balls she hit today were just amazing, what can you do about that?" asked Hingis. "I felt pretty okay, just that sometimes I had some bad mishits."

The Swiss teenager staved off two breakpoints to hold serve at the start of the second set, but Davenport got the pivotal break in the fifth game when Hingis double-faulted to trail 2-3 and the American gave up just three points on her serve to even the match.

"My serves almost won me the last three tournaments," said Davenport. "I have been able to hold serve and not struggle too much, therefore, you have more energy and can be a little more relaxed when you are returning."

Tied 1-1 in the third, Hingis dropped serve on two consequtive forehand errors. Davenport took the break, then built up a 4-2 lead, cracking a forehand winner down the line on what appeared to be an easy smash putaway by Hingis.

"I had to risk a lot today, I had to be more aggressive than I usually am, so you have me playing a couple of bad shots," said Hingis, who made 39 unforced errors in the match.

Davenport's toughest challenge on serve came in the eighth game when she faced break point. She forced off deuce as Hingis sprayed two errant shots to lose the game, then tossed her racket in disgust. Amusingly, the racket bounced off the court and hit her in the head, though not hard enough for the world number one to suffer injury.

Davenport earned $79,000 for the win, thus raising her earnings in three weeks to $237,000. She also took home a new Acura.

"This is the only car I've ever won in my pro career," she said. "I intend to keep it."