TENNIS : HINGIS TWO STEPS FROM HISTORIC TITLE.Byline: Steve Wilstein Steve Wilstein is an Associated Press national sports writer and columnist based in New York. He covers sports events around the globe, including the Grand Slam of Tennis, the World Series, Super Bowl, and Olympics, and has won more than 25 writing awards. Associated Press Associated Press: see news agency. Associated Press (AP) Cooperative news agency, the oldest and largest in the U.S. and long the largest in the world. Martina Hingis Martina Hingis (pronounced: hɪŋˈɡɪs) (born September 30, 1980 in Košice, Slovakia) is a former World No. 1 Swiss tennis player. moved closer to becoming the youngest Australian Open
The 16-year-old Hingis tattooed the corner with one final backhand return to beat Romanian Irina Spirlea 7-5, 6-2 in a match that showed off all the Swiss teen's precocious talents from the baseline and the net. Hingis, at No. 4 the highest seed left in the tournament, is seeking to replace Monica Seles as the youngest Australian Open champion and the youngest Grand Slam singles champion this century. Seles was 17 when she won the first of her four Australian titles in 1991. On the men's side, Michael Chang earned a 7-5, 6-1, 6-4 victory over Chile's Marcelo Rios and will face Carlos Moya next. Spirlea hit some impressive winners and forced Hingis to battle back from early service breaks in both sets. But Hingis played confidently on key points, maneuvering Spirlea into errors. She lost her own service in the second set's first game, but lost only one more game, breaking Spirlea at love in the final game. Fernandez, seeded No. 14, won when pain-wracked Dominique van Roost tearfully quit in the second set with a pulled abdominal muscle. Van Roost, who was able to fight through her injury by wearing a corset corset, article of dress designed to support or modify the figure. Greek and Roman women sometimes wrapped broad bands about the body. In the Middle Ages a short, close-fitting, laced outer bodice or waist was worn. By the 16th cent. while upsetting No. 15 Chanda Rubin after knocking off No. 2 Arantxa Sanchez Vicario, finally had to give up while trailing 7-5, 4-0 when the pain became too much to bear. The match, played under the closed roof as rain finally snapped a three-day heat wave, was tied 5-5 when van Roost, a Belgian ranked No. 43, began to break down from the injury as she reached for serves or overheads. Until then, her net-attacking style and deep, angled groundstrokes looked as if they might carry her far beyond her previous best performance in a Grand Slam event - a fourth-round finish at the Australian in 1992. But when the injury acted up, van Roost faded on her serve, falling behind 6-5, then losing the first set as Fernandez easily served it out. When van Roost dropped serve again to start the second set, she called for a trainer, who took her off the court to re-wrap her heavily bandaged abdomen. Van Roost tried to play on, but each stretch took its toll with a grimace grimace Neurology A humorless facial 'mask' typically seen in Pts with catatonia. See Amimia. of pain and, eventually, tears. Every shot hurt, and she knew the best opportunity of her seven-year career was slipping away. After serving her ninth double fault, then falling behind 4-0, she wept and held up her hand as she approached the umpire and said she couldn't go on. CAPTION(S): Photo Photo: Michael Chang, looking for Looking for In the context of general equities, this describing a buy interest in which a dealer is asked to offer stock, often involving a capital commitment. Antithesis of in touch with. the second Grand Slam title of his career, reached the semifinals with a victory over Marcelo Rios of Chile. Associated Press |
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