As the #1 seed, Martina Hingis was almost expected to reach her fifth Australian Open final this year. There were some expectedly tough obstacles to overcome along the way but her superiority at this event and in women’s tennis in general allowed her to move past her closest rivals and move into the 11th Grand Slam singles final of her career. By contrast, the #12 seed Jennifer Capriati was hardly expected to reach her first Grand Slam singles final at this year’s Australian Open. Although she was not in the tougher section of the draw as Hingis was, there was still some brave opposition that she had to face in order to pull off this huge surprise. In fact, judging her form in her opening round match at Rod Laver Arena, Jennifer looked no better than shaky as she was on the brink of elimination at the hands of Henrieta Nagyova. Jennifer went on to win that match 7-5 in the third set and ever since, has been on cruise control for the rest of the event. Her comeback win over Monica Seles in the quarter finals was the big hurdle she needed to overcome and the fight and determination she possessed in that match gave her the confidence to play an almost error-free match against Lindsay Davenport in the semi finals.
Who is going to win today’s final? The money will strongly be on Martina Hingis to claim her fourth Australian Open and her sixth Grand Slam title overall. Whether Capriati has the goods to cause yet another surprise this fortnight is a question that she will need to find an answer for. She is going to have to maintain at least the same level of play that she displayed against Davenport in the semis although Hingis is not going to give her the startling amount of free points from mistakes that the #2 seed gave. In fact, she is probably going to have to play even better and for the entire match in order to dispose of the #1 player in the world. It’s not as tall an order as one might think having watched her form progress throughout the last couple of matches. Jennifer is evidently confident. She is striking the ball cleanly, confidently, aggressively with a lot of depth and pace. Her serve has been very consistent and gone are the days of the double faults in double figures. Her fitness, an issue in the past, has improved so much and she looks to have the stamina and mobility in order to last for a long three set match.
