Martina Hingis won the first WTA singles tour title of her comeback on Sunday, taking down Dinara Safina 6-2 7-5 at Rome's Foro Italico.
With the win the Swiss player, unseeded, announces she is a force to be reckoned with, just six months after returning to top-flight tennis.
To judge by her performance on centre court, there is little to separate the Martina of today with the dominating performer she was before injury forced her to take three years out of the tour.
"It's great to be on top of the game," she said after the match.
She came out in her final firing on all cylinders, taking two quick games and then coming back from 0-40 down to break a second time and lead 3-0.
She approached the net without hesitation and ripped away to 5-0 before Dinara mustered the courage to counter. She did then manage a mini-comeback, though it lasted only two games.
Going into the second set, Hingis hit devastating form and began attacking Dinara's serve. Dinara, who has had three of the biggest wins of her career over the last week, looked slow around the court compared to the nimble Swiss star, who even managed a successful serve and volley.
At around 4-1 however Hingis lost concentration. Dinara pulled back to 4-3, then at 5-3 Hingis had two match points, which she could not convert.
At 6-5 she was given a second chance to serve out the championship. She saved four break points, failed to convert her third match point and then took the fourth match point with two cross court backhands, both of which landed on the lines.
>>May 27, 2006 at 4:55:46 AM GMT+8
2006 年 5 月 19 日 星期五 【晴】
Comeback Hingis at Internazionali d'Italia 2006
20/05/2006 18:17 - COMEBACK QUEEN HINGIS MAKES THE FINAL
Unseeded Martina Hingis came back from a first set slump on Saturday to make the final of Rome's Alice Cup. She overcame number nine seed Venus Williams 0-6 6-3 6-3, one of a series of seeds beaten over the last week.
Hingis, who last won the Rome tournament eight years ago against the same opponent, struggled to get the ball in court in the first set. She came up with just two winners, which when accompanied by 11 unforced errors translated into a 22-minute rout. "I came out and I didn't feel the timing," she said after the match. "it was just a question of winning one game."
In the second, Hingis slowly found form as Williams lost hers. The two players together produced 20 unforced errors. After two sets they had still been playing for less than an hour.
In the third Hingis pulled away with the all-court tennis which has sustained her comeback from the wilderness to her top 30 ranking of today in just six months, a ranking which is sure to shoot up next week irrespective of whether she wins or loses Sunday's final against Russia's Dinara Safina, the 16th seed. Hingis has beaten seeds since her second round in Rome.
20/05/2006 19:01 - HINGIS: 'EVEN WHEN 6-0 DOWN I THOUGHT I COULD WIN'
Martina Hingis lost the first set of her semi-final against Venus Williams 6-0 in just over 20 minutes, hitting 11 unforced errors and just two winners. But even when she went 1-0 down in the second, she still thought she could win, she said after the match.
"I felt like I could have won," Hingis said. "I was missing everything by just this much [holds two fingers together]. I felt like I was pressuring her. I wasn't overawed. I thought to myself 'please put the ball in'. At least I was still fresh - that's the upside of losing a set 6-0. I didn't feel like she was killing me. And in the third set I was able to dictate."
慢熱
衝動
禍不單行!!
HINGIS CROWNED ROME CHAMPION
i bumped into yo