Hingis Makes Graf Fight Hard for Her Spot in U.S. Open Final

When Monica Seles returned to tennis last summer and bulled her way to the finals of the U.S. Open against Steffi Graf, it was expected that the two would resume the rivalry that had been interrupted when Seles was stabbed in the back on April 30, 1993.

It took a year for that to come true. Today’s women’s singles final at the U.S. Open will again pit the top-seeded Graf against the second-seeded Seles, a matchup that Graf won last year.

Seles has had the easier time getting to the final and will have the benefit of an extra day’s rest. She completed her semifinal against Conchita Martinez on Friday afternoon, while Graf’s match against Martina Hingis was suspended because of rain.

On a rain-free Saturday morning, Graf dispatched the pesky Swiss teenager, 7-5, 6-3.

The match was scarcely unfurled on Friday--Hingis had just held her opening serve--when the heavens opened. Nearly four hours later, after intermittent showers, officials suspended play.

The weather was gloomy Saturday, but it was dry during the women’s match. The players picked up where they left off and produced a sizzling show. Not for nothing is Hingis being compared to Graf, and Saturday’s match underscored the similarities.

Hingis already exhibits a canny court sense. Seles said she has never seen such anticipation and use of tactics in one so young. Like Graf, Hingis moves very well around the court. Like Graf, Hingis plays at a brisk pace, although Saturday she cleverly refused to allow Graf to rush her between points and during changeovers.

Most significantly, Hingis has something of Graf’s will to win. She broke Graf in the eighth game of the first set after being down 0-40. But Graf won the next six games to put down that rebellion.

Hingis held five set points, a rare gift that she regretted not pocketing. Down 4-5, 0-40, Graf fought fiercely to stay in the set: There were 27 strokes during the rally at the fourth match point and 26 strokes in the next.

In that 10th game Hingis was warned for racket abuse when her frustration twice drove her to heave her racket around the court. Like many 15-year-olds, when she wants something she wants it now. Her impatience was her undoing in the second set.

Hingis lost her serve in the first game and allowed Graf to force her to play well behind the baseline. Still, Graf was fully extended and needed to play her best match of the tournament to win.

“She was really playing great out there; she didn’t give me any easy points,” Graf said. “I was really amazed that she was able to keep that high intensity for almost the whole match. In the beginning of the second set, she had some unforced errors, but until then, she didn’t give me anything.”

To get to Graf, Hingis had to beat two top-10 players. For that she will move from No. 16 to No. 13 in the next rankings. With this season, Hingis may have evolved from a star of the future to a player to be reckoned with in the present.

“You can’t really look at her as a 15-year-old,” Graf said. “She has been playing so well, it doesn’t seem like you have somebody that young across the net.”

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TODAY’S FINAL

No. 1 Steffi Graf vs. No. 2 Monica Seles

Channel 2, 11 a.m.