Mal Taam/MALTphoto

A tale of two rivals: Venus, Hingis mirroring each other

FROM THE ACURA CLASSIC IN SAN DIEGO – Not every tournament is a flashback to 1997, but when Martina Hingis and Venus Williams are in the same locale – like they are at this week's Acura Classic – their names slip easily off each other's lips.

Hingis is taking motivation from her great rival, the same woman whom she schooled in the '97 US Open final. After besting Virginie Razzano 6-2, 6-4 on Wednesday, Williams thought back to an 11-week period when she gained the No. 1 ranking in 2002.

"It was hard to hold on to because Martina was playing more than I was," she said. "It was elusive."

Actually, it was Jennifer Capriati and her sister Serena Williams whom she was vying with then, not Hingis, who was beginning to decline. Like her likeable but spacey mother, Oracene, Venus' recollection skills have never been that great, so she was probably thinking back to 2001 and 2002 when she went back-to-back at Wimbledon and the US Open and when Hingis was more of a factor.

But Hingis has keen recollection skills and still puts herself on par with Venus, who along with Serena, represents a large part of her personal bar.

Mal Taam/MALTphoto Maria Kirilenko upset Lucie Safarova 6-4, 7-6(3).

"When I saw what she did at Wimbledon, it did inspire [me] to think I might be able to do the same again," Hingis told TennisReporters.net. "You see in two out of three Slams that the Williams sisters won and were able to bounce back not having played that much over the past few years and you are a little surprised."

Unlike in 1997, when Hingis ruled the roost by grabbing three out of the four Slams and spoiled Venus' coming out party in the US Open final, Hingis is now looking up at Venus. Sure, at No. 13 she's ranked slightly higher than the No. 16 Williams, but Venus just won her sixth Slam title at Wimbledon, giving her one more major than the Swiss. Don't think that doesn't matter to the proud rivals. Venus is playing so well now that she has to be considered the early favorite to win her third US Open crown, while Hingis is merely hoping that she can stay healthy enough to reach the second week.

Hingis needs a huge week in San Diego to get her confidence back, while Venus is so full of confidence that it seems like she could skate to the final on good days and bad. She says she's in the proverbial zone.

"I'm playing better than at Wimbledon," she said. "My first serve percentage was crazy at Wimbledon and I hit as hard as could and it just went in. Every time I would go for it and I was blessed to get it in. There's a determination part of it. My level is going up every day. It was a huge boost to win a Slam and this tournament will help me, too."

Venus is in her healthiest stretch since 2005 and now has gone more than six months without pulling out of a tournament. She is thrilled that she's finally healthy again.

"I'm the anti-Venus," she said. "I finally have two legs to stand on. I'm playing a lot of matches. I don't want to be injured any more and have to work so hard to be where I want to be. I'm at a really wonderful place in my game where I can stay there and keep getting better."

She has no idea why she's healthy again, but she is. And, as the world saw at the AELTC, she's crushing her serve and forehand, the two most up-and-down parts of her game.

When she's nearly unbreakable and when a foe cannot hammer balls into her forehand side, she's as good or better as anyone on the planet.

© TennisReporters.net 2007