SMASHED BY SELES

Up or down for Hingis?

By Matthew Cronin
tennisreporters.net

Susan Mullane Camerawork USA, Inc.

SAN DIEGO, AUG. 4 – On Friday night after she found away to derail Ai Sugiyama's express train counterpunching, No. 1 Martina Hingis was mighty pleased with herself.

And rightfully so.

The 20-year-old Swiss was turning forcefully into her forehand and looked brilliant during her frequent forays to the net. But Hingis showed little spunk in taking her first loss to Monica Seles in three years on Saturday. Seles played a nearly flawless match, serving with precision and authority, cracking winners off both wings from inside baseline and gamefully running end to end during long rallies.

Hingis came into the contest with a 12-2 lifetime edge over Seles, but
quickly discovered that her formerly successful tactic of trying to exhaust
Seles in long rallies by frequently changing the pace and hitting behind her opponent wouldn't work. She often hit her forehand short and didn't seem to have much confidence in her usually wondrous backhand down the line. Hingis said that she hasn't found her form yet.

"I have to get used to big hitters like her, because my game is more strategy
than just hitting," said Hingis, who took two weeks off after Wimbledon to
recover form a back injury before beginning to practice. "Physically I'm
still improving." Sometimes you go out and you're a little flat. Playing
against Monica whose so tough at the moment, maybe in the past I would get
away with the mood I was in, but not against her. I was a split second slow."

Moreover, Seles tore apart Hingis' weak second serves, which often plopped in
the the low '70s. Three years ago, Hingis was getting away with her
powderpuff second serve. Because she is such an excellent defensive player,
Hingis can still get away with it against 90 percent of the tour. But she's
kidding herself if she thinks she going to win any more Slams spinning cotton
candy down the middle to the likes of Seles, the Williamses, Capriati, etc.

"It would be a big help if I could grow an inch or two," said Hingis. "But I
can't. It's definitely something that I have to work on."

Hingis grew a bit testy when asked whether it is part of her and her mother
and coach Melanie's strategy to have her come into net more in order to
shorten points and use her deft touch at the net. Against Seles, she only
came in nine times, and about half of those were to retrieve short balls, not
deliberate charges.

"Do you want to help out and tell me what shot I should come in," Hingis
said to tennisreporters.net. We promised to yell out "Charge" the next time she plays.

Seriously, though, Hingis should have been in every time Seles was stretched
out on the forehand side because Monica has a very tough time creating much
pace when she is forced to go to one hand.

tennisreporters.net was under the impression that Hingis took five weeks off to recover physically and mentally, but Hingis said that she's not all the way back.

"For two weeks it was getting from minus at Wimbledon to zero," she said.
Asked if she was still at zero, Hingis replied, "Don't make me that bad. I'm
above average, probably about 70. Sometimes your happy to be above average
because you don't want to be below. I can only keep improving. Venus lost in
the quarters last week to to Shaughnessy. Players like us, we need match
practice."

Indeed.