NEWS
OTHER SPORTS
DIARY
PEOPLE
MATCH REPORTS
SLIDE SHOW
ARCHIVES

Hingis whips Venus Williams

Martina Hingis celebrated her return to the world No. 1 spot by whipping Venus Williams 6-4, 6-0 yesterday to win the $520,000 T.I.G. Classic Tennis tournament.

The second-seeded Hingis took the final nine games of the 61-minute match from the fourth-seeded American.

Hingis had regained the world No. 1 spot on Saturday by crushing seventh-seeded Amanda Coetzer after Williams surprised defending champion Lindsay Davenport in the first semi-final.

However, the Swiss 18-year-old will not officially return to the top spot until the WTA releases the rankings today.

''Some people felt like, is she ever going to come back?'' said Hingis, who took a five-week break following a shocking first-round Wimbledon loss last month. ''I think this is a good opportunity for me to show, 'well, here I am again'.''

The baseline slugfest started slowly. Four consecutive service breaks had the score knotted at 2-apiece. At 4-4, Hingis got the deciding break to go up 5-4 and served out the set when, at 40-15, Williams pushed a low forehand into the net.

Hingis kept the upper hand throughout the 24-minute second-set sweep.

''I was just too tired,'' said Williams, who made 32 unforced errors to 13 for Hingis. ''I got tired on the last day. I just wish I could've gotten tired tomorrow. I made it easy for her.''

Hingis collected her fifth title of the year and the 80,000 dollar winner's prize, while Williams received 40,000 in her second runner-up finish in as many weeks. She lost to Davenport in the Bank of the West Classic final at Stanford last week.

UNI