HINGIS HANGS IN, SELES HANGS ON.

Byline: KAREN CROUSE

Monica Seles could look across the net at the Toshiba Classic Sunday and see herself six years ago, before a knife and life's vagaries scarred her.

Martina Hingis, who continued her carefree romp through the 1997 tennis schedule with a 7-6 (7-4), 6-4 victory over Seles on a warm and windless afternoon, is one month shy of her 17th birthday.

That makes Hingis nine months younger than Seles was in her only other appearance in this tournament. In 1991, Seles lost to a 15-year-old, Jennifer Capriati, in the youngest women's final in the Open era.

Hingis is the youngest No. 1-ranked female player in the world this century, having ridden a sophisticated all-court game to a mind-boggling 55-1 record in singles matches this year.

She assumed the No. 1 mantle on March 31, after dispatching Seles 6-0, 6-2 in the finals of the Lipton Championships, and has shown no signs of relinquishing the title anytime soon.

Not even a nasty fall from a friend's horse in April could topple her. Hingis, who was born in Slovakia but resides in Switzerland, underwent arthroscopic surgery to repair torn ligaments in her left knee. Two months later she added the Wimbledon title to her Australian Open crown.

The only blemish on Hingis' mark this year is a loss to Iva Majoli in the finals of the French Open in June. Hingis' highlight reel of a season moves this week to Manhattan Beach for the Acura Classic.

Hingis' run is reminiscent of Seles' wild ride in the early 1990s. Seles won 18 singles titles before her 18th birthday and advanced to 21 consecutive singles finals, playing for the championship in all but one tournament in 1991 and 1992.

``Martina has the confidence to go for shots and they always seem to go in,'' Seles said. ``When I was 17, I was in that zone that she's in at 16.''

Seles remained virtually unbeatable in her late teens. Displaying the same vivacious personality and killer instinct that Hingis now exhibits, Seles won seven of her nine Grand Slam titles between 1991 and January of 1993.

Her two-year reign at No. 1 effectively ended on April 30, 1993 when she was stabbed in the back during a match by an obsessed German fan of her rival Steffi Graf. Seles' game and her outlook on life have never been quite the same.

While in a German hospital recovering from that injury, Seles received another, in many ways more debilitating blow. Her father and coach, Karolj, was diagnosed with stomach cancer.

Seles has courageously - some would say miraculously - come back from the mindless tragedy to win six singles titles, including one major (the 1996 Australian Open). Her runner-up finish here was her fourth of 1997 (and her third to Hingis).

Karolj Seles' string of good fortune, meantime, has been stretched taut. The cancer went into remission but has returned with a vengeance, leaving Seles to navigate the Tour without the man who used to help her keep her emotions and her game on an even keel.

Hingis, whose mother, Melanie Molitor, is similarly navigating her career, can't fathom what it must be like for Seles, who phones her father in Sarasota, Fla., before and after every match.

``I really appreciate (what she's going through),'' Hingis said. ``She's always trying. I don't know what it's like for her to go through that, but she's playing great tennis. That's what I know.''

The first tournament Seles played without her ailing father in attendance, in Oakland last November, was one she'd just as soon forget. Seles succumbed to Hingis in the final 6-0, 6-1.

The massacre took 40 minutes - less time than Sunday's first set - and was the most lopsided defeat of Seles' career.

Hingis assumed the No. 1 mantle from Graf after beating Seles 6-0, 6-2 at the Lipton Championships in Miami in March. Over the ensuing four months, Seles has steadfastly closed the gap.

She extended Hingis to three sets in the semifinals at the French Open and had Hingis scrambling in front of a La Costa Resort sellout crowd of 16,200 that was firmly behind the world's No. 3-ranked female player.

Seles had two break points in the third and fifth games of the first set but Hingis stubbornly battled back each time to hold her serve. Seles did break Hingis twice after that and was serving for the first set at 5-4.

But her serve, which would produce five aces over the match, betrayed her nerves. She double-faulted on three of the four points, creating a window of opportunity that Hingis climbed through by holding her serve in the next game and hanging on in the tiebreaker.

In the end, Seles committed a few too many unforced errors - 22 - while Hingis converted just enough winners (17).

``Today she played her best tennis ever against me,'' Hingis said. With guileless candor she added, ``I'm not sure how I won. I guess it's because I've always beaten her. I was just hanging in there, as you say in the United States.''

Shortly after disposing of Seles, Hingis teamed with Arantxa Sanchez Vicario for a 6-3, 7-5 victory over Kimberly Po and Amy Frazier in doubles. Her winnings for the day added up to a cool $90,875, which should keep her two horses in hay for the foreseeable future.

The crowd that witnessed the world's latest sporting wonder not named Tiger included a couple dozen Swiss exchange students. They were easily identifiable by the Swiss flags they had painted on their faces.

Hingis cheerfully posed for a photograph with the group, giving the thumbs-up signal on cue. If the No. 1 mantle is wearing heavy on her, she's hiding her discomfort well.

``I would like to prove I'm not a flash in the pan,'' Hingis has said. On Sunday, she spoke respectfully of a rival who has stood the test of time, with all its travails.

``I don't like to play Monica in the finals,'' Hingis said, ``because once she's going to beat me. I don't look forward to that day.''