Capriati Upsets Davenport, to Play Hingis

M E L B O U R N E, Australia, Jan. 25, 2001 -- Martina Hingis finally beat bothWilliams sisters in the same tournament, and handed Venus her worstloss ever in the process.

With a new "wave of confidence," former troubled teenagerJennifer Capriati reached her first Grand Slam final.

The matchup for the Australian Open championship was set afterHingis beat Venus Williams 6-1, 6-1 today, and Capriati knockedout defending champion Lindsay Davenport 6-3, 6-4.

Capriati, the No. 12 seed, reacted by putting her hand behindher head in a gesture of disbelief.

On the men's side, cramps destroyed Patrick Rafter's acrobatic serve-and-volley attack, allowing Andre Agassi, the defending champion, to rally for a 7-5, 2-6, 6-7 (5), 6-2, 6-3 victory. Agassi advances to the AustralianOpen final.

Hingis Sweeps the Williams Sisters

Capriati, who rates the 1992 Olympic gold medal as the greatestfeat of her career, beat Steffi Graf in that final at age 16. Thatwas before her mid-1990s hiatus from tennis with drug and personalproblems.

Hingis is seeking her fourth title in the last five AustralianOpens.

Williams, who beat Hingis on her way to the Wimbledon and U.S.Open titles, held service only once, committed 38 errors andyielded her second service break of the second set by serving threedouble faults.

She gave Hingis match point by slamming a volley far out, andthen missed a backhand long.

"Things happen all the time for no apparent reason," Williamssaid.

She said Hingis played her normal consistent, counterpunchinggame.

"A lot of times I'd be in there and I'd just miss a shot, justgiving it back to her," a subdued Williams said. "That'ssomething you can't do, especially in a Grand Slam semifinal."

Williams, however, had been struggling throughout thetournament, needing three sets in three of her first five matches.She had to rally from 3-5 in the final set to beat Amanda Coetzerin Wednesday's quarterfinals.

"It's a sad thing not to go home with the title," Williamssaid.

Hingis also was responsible for one of Williams' worst previouslosses, 6-2, 6-1 in 1997 — "when I was like a baby," the20-year-old Williams said.

Before rallying from 1-4 in the final set to beat SerenaWilliams on Wednesday, Hingis watched Venus' slow start againstCoetzer.

"[It] was the same thing today," Hingis said.

"I am fitter now and taking the ball earlier, and I think thathelps me when I play the power players like the Williamses,"Hingis said.

In three previous events, Hingis had beaten one Williams sisterand then lost to the other, including the 1999 U.S. Open, won bySerena.

She became the third player to beat both sisters at the sametournament. Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario did it in 1998 and Steffi Grafin '99.

Errors Cost Davenport

Davenport hung her head or banged her racket on the court aftersome of the 43 errors that accounted for a majority of Capriati's78 points.

Trying to stay in the match with Capriati serving at 5-4 in thesecond set, Davenport missed two serve returns, netted a backhandand finally dumped a forehand into the net while chasing a wideshot by Capriati.

"In all the semifinals I've ever played, this was probably themost disappointing in the way that I showed up to play," Davenportsaid.

Davenport said she was sending balls long because the 93-degreeheat made the balls lighter and harder to control.

"Her balls were coming extremely hard, so then it's hard to dowhat you want with the ball," she added.

Capriati said she was stronger and more aggressive than when shelost to Davenport in last year's semifinals here.

"Maybe I was kind of intimidated by her and the whole moment,"Capriati said.

Not this time.

"Just in this tournament, from the beginning, all of a suddenthis confidence came over me, like this wave of confidence," saidCapriati, who beat No. 4 Monica Seles in the quarterfinals.

"I had to really jump on top of her early, especially on herserve," Capriati said of Davenport. "Maybe I thought she wastaking me a little bit lightly there. So I got the early break [inthe second game]. I think that helped a lot."

In 1990-91, Capriati also reached three Grand Slam tournamentsemifinals, but lost each time.

"I was happy just playing and even having a good couple winshere and there, getting my ranking up," Capriati said, referringto her matches early in her comeback. "But now my expectations aregoing to be higher."

Humid Conditions Break Rafter

"It's tough when you want to chase it down but your legs justseize up," said Rafter, a two-time U.S. Open champion who suffereda similar fate in Australia's 3-1 loss to Spain in last month'sDavis Cup finals.

"He really wore me down," said Rafter, the first Australiansince 1996 to reach the semifinals of his home country's Grand Slamtournament.

Rafter kept attacking to the end of the 3-hour, 7-minute match.

"You never know what might happen out there, and you've got totry," he said. "I wasn't going to walk off possibly playing mylast match of the Australian Open with an injury."

Rafter has said he is going to take a break from tennis afterthis year, maybe not come back. Agassi, who lost to him in lastyear's Wimbledon semifinals, said the 28-year-old Rafter shouldstick around.

With a nighttime temperature of 82 degrees and high humidity,Agassi said, "these were tough conditions. We were both workinghard. I felt I earned that advantage" of Rafter's faltering legs.

The match was reminiscent of the semifinal last year whereAgassi rallied from two sets to one down to beat Pete Sampras.

In the championship match Sunday, he will meet the winner ofFriday's all-French semifinal between Sebastien Grosjean and ArnaudClement.