DECEMBER 2000 SPORT HEADLINES

Thursday, January 25, 2001 - Web posted at 9:16:46 AM GMT

Hingis beats Serena and now faces Venus

MELBOURNE - Serena Williams couldn't beat dogged retriever Martina Hingis despite a 4-1 lead in the final set.

Now it is sister Venus' turn to try.

Wimbledon, US Open and Olympic champion Venus almost didn't do her part to reach the Australian Open semi-finals.

She sprayed 56 errors before surviving a late service break and beating No 10 Amanda Coetzer 2-6, 6-1, 8-6 yesterday.

Then the top-seeded Hingis spoiled a sibling semi-final by rallying for a 6-2, 3-6, 8-6 victory over Serena, who had 54 errors - 29 of them in the final set."

"I was able to keep going and going until she would miss," Hingis said.

Before going out to play doubles an hour after her singles, Serena sent word that she had not eaten anything but toast for two days because of food poisoning.

She and Venus then beat Anna Kournikova and Barbara Schett 3-6, 6-1, 6-1 to advance to a semi-final against Hingis and Monica Seles.

In an Australian Open warm-up, Hingis and Seles beat the Williams sisters.

Serena said later that "some pink stuff" the trainer gave her after her first set of singles helped her recover by the third set from a dizzy feeling and to get her feet moving.

After the doubles, she added, "I could play another match."

"The trainer brought medicine for Serena after the first set against Hingis.

She went on to win the second, thanks to a second-serve ace for set point and a Hingis forehand into the net.

In the final set, after Hingis had closed from 1-4 to 4-all, Serena broke for 5-4.

She pumped her fist after a backhand down the line put her two points from winning.

That was as close as she got.

Hingis won the game with two backhand crosscourts that caught Serena off-balance.

Serena held serve for 6-all, and two games later played a brilliant rally to erase Hingis' first match point.

She sent Hingis running back with a lunging lob and then dived to put in a backhand angled drop volley.

But she netted a forehand on the next point, and Hingis finished the 2-hour, 19-minute match with an angled overhead.

Hingis considered her first set the best tennis of her career."

"It was a great match from both of us.

At the end, especially, it was whoever wanted it more and who was more lucky," she said.

Thanks to playing and fitness improvements, "you can't count on just overpowering me anymore," said the 20-year-old Swiss player, who is seeking her sixth Grand Slam tournament title.

She has a 9-7 record against Venus, but lost their last two meetings.

Serena said Hingis won "with a lot of heart."

"Against the 158-centimetre Coetzer, Venus, who is 185-centimetres, lost the first eight points and first four games, prompting one fan to shout, "Let's go, Venus, wake up!"She did, racing through the second set.

In the last set, however, errors crept back in - 27 in the 14 games.

Coetzer broke for 5-3, but then lost the next game on errors.

Venus returned that favour when serving for the match at 6-5, broke yet again for 7-6 and finished in 1:46 with an overhead.

- Nampa-Sapa-AP

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