The Final Fling
Hingis confirms status as all-time champion with three straight Australian Open titles
Martina Hingis likes rewriting the history books. She became the youngest winner of a Grand Slam tournament at Wimbledon when she won the doubles with Helena Sukova in 1996. Then she became the youngest ever Grand Slam singles champion when she took the tennis world by storm, capturing the 1997 Australian Open without dropping a set. Shortly after, she became the youngest ever world #1, robbing Monica Seles of that record by defeating her in the 1997 Lipton final. She became the youngest tennis player ever - man or woman - to clear their first $1 million in prize money. In 1998, she became the youngest person to successfully defend a Grand Slam Singles title at the Australian Open. Later in the year, she became the first person since Martina Navratilova and Pam Shriver to attain the coveted "Grand Slam" in doubles. Whew! What hasn't Martina accomplished?!?! (.......well, if you are actually wondering, she hasn't captured the French Open yet.......)
Now Martina can add another record to her wonderful resume already. Hingis has now joined the company of some of tennis's all-time greats, like Daphne Ackhurst, Margaret Court, Evonne Goolagong Cawley, and modern day champions Steffi Graf and Monica Seles in the honour of achieving three consecutive Australian Open singles crowns! Martina's championship success was never in doubt from the beginning of the match as she broke the huge serve of opponent Amelie Mauresmo in the opening game. And she never looked back. It was clearly a sign of nerves from Amelie which did her injustice in the beginning of the match, and Martina's experience in Grand Slam finals (she's been in seven) was evident as she remained composed throughout the encounter. Unfortunately, a low percentage of first serves and a lot of unforced errors finally handed Amelie defeat, but even so, Martina's control from the baseline was impeccable and her court savvy and anticipation were just remarkable that victory was her only justice. And so she captured her fifth Grand Slam title in 67 minutes, 6-2 6-3. Is Martina capable of returning to #1? Very much so. And once again, she not only walked away with the singles crown, but the doubles crown as well for the third straight year. Is there something about Melbourne Park's rebound ace courts which make her so successful? I presume so, considering she has a rebound ace court laid in her own backyard in Trubacch, Switzerland. This time, she teamed up with first-time partner Anna Kournikova in a repeat of last year's final against top seeds Natasha Zvereva and Lindsay Davenport. The popular "Spice Girls" pairing were never in doubt of winning, Martina holding an important psychological edge over her opponents whom she defeated in all four Grand Slam doubles finals last year to take the "Grand Slam". Anna Kournikova picked up her first Grand Slam title and her second professional title with Martina Hingis in a dominant 7-5 6-3 performance.
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