Hingis Pulling Her Weight

During Wimbledon, tennis legends Martina Navratilova and Billie Jean King all but ordered 17-year-old Martina Hingis to get into the weight room.

And fast.

Hingis has gone there . . . and the verdict is in from the top player in the world:

“It makes me tired. It makes me sick,” Hingis said.

Then she started laughing. There is something refreshing about a No. 1 player who isn’t obsessive about her fitness level. Hingis might need to revisit her current philosophy about the weight room when she gets older, but for now, the kid who has won four of the last seven Grand Slam events is someone who remains a body in motion on the tennis court, not the workout studio.

Hingis said she has gained 15 to 17 pounds in the last year and a half.

“When you carry a lot, you have to work more,” she said.

That wasn’t the case Thursday. Hingis won her quarterfinal match against Joannette Kruger of South Africa, 6-1, 6-3, in 49 minutes at the Toshiba Tennis Classic at La Costa Resort and Spa, winning the first four games before Kruger responded by breaking Hingis’ serve.

Hingis, one round ahead of the others, will play the winner of today’s quarterfinal between third-seeded Venus Williams and Mary Pierce of France.

Williams defeated Chanda Rubin, 6-3, 6-2; second-seeded Lindsay Davenport beat Lisa Raymond, 6-1, 6-4; and Wimbledon finalist Nathalie Tauziat of France defeated qualifier Amy Frazier, 6-2, 3-6, 6-1.

Davenport will face Tauziat tonight, after quarterfinals between Monica Seles and Ai Sugiyama and Williams-Pierce.

Hingis has made a concession or two. After all, she’s not 14 anymore.

“Physically, I have to work on myself more,” she said. “I started jogging a little bit. I used to hate that.

“But when you’re younger, it really doesn’t take that much. You have your kid body and it’s so much easier. Once you get older, you have to work more. When you are 14, 15 and 16, you don’t have that many muscles or whatever.”

In 1997, Hingis virtually owned the tour, winning three of the four Grand Slam events and losing once in the first seven months, in the French Open final. In all, she was 75-5. This year, she has lost six times.

“The fields weren’t as strong as they are right now,” Hingis said. “They were [the same players]. But the players weren’t as strong as they are now.”

There are several other reasons for the increased competition. It is a combination of the teenagers pushing one another, and the so-called “veterans” rising to challenge the youngsters.

And Williams is even finding competition within her own household, from her younger sister Serena.

On Thursday, Venus pushed herself a little more. Not pleased after the Rubin match, Williams hit the practice court for some extra work.

The player with the most momentum here is Davenport, 22, who defeated Williams in the final last week at Palo Alto and has done well against the youngsters in 1998.

The players beating her at the last two Grand Slams were Arantxa Sanchez Vicario, 26, in the French Open semifinals and Tauziat, 30, in the quarterfinals at Wimbledon.

“I don’t think we all ever sat around and said we’re going to win now,” Davenport said of the non-teenagers. “We’ve all wanted to win. With the younger players playing better, we knew, meaning the older players, we had to get better too.

“It was probably just a subconscious feeling that we knew we had to lift our games because there were so many players that were up and coming. That forced everyone to get better. The level of tennis on the tour has risen.

“I don’t think anyone would have picked Hingis, Sanchez and [Jana] Novotna to win the first three Grand Slams of the year.”

Davenport, who won six tournaments last year, has lost weight steadily, dropping 25 pounds since the end of 1995. More recently, Davenport feels she has become leaner and stronger.

“I haven’t changed too much in the last five months in terms of numbers,” she said. “Maybe developed more muscle and lost more fat.”

There is no mysterious diet.

“I’ve gotten really good at sharing food,” she said. “I’m serious. I’ll order one plate for two people. Not eating as much.”

The difference has been obvious. At Palo Alto, she won tough three-setters in the semifinals and final, and also managed to win the doubles with Natasha Zvereva.

“I think I’m faster,” she said. “Not too many balls get by me, but I’m never going to be like Arantxa or [Amanda] Coetzer.”

Considering the competition and the conditions, Davenport felt that the Stanford event was one of her toughest tournament victories. The title also put her back at No. 2 in the world, moving ahead of Novotna.

“It was so funny. On Monday morning, I looked in the paper and I was like, ‘Oh my God, I’m only 500 or 600 points [behind Hingis]’ ” she said. “At the beginning of the year, it was something like 3,000.

“In those terms, I’m getting closer [to No. 1], but you still have to win tournaments and you probably have to win a slam to get there. It’s going to be a big summer for me.”

Today’s Quarterfinals

STADIUM COURT, NOON

* Monica Seles (4) vs. Ai Sugiyama.

* Venus Williams (3) vs. Mary Pierce.

STADIUM COURT, 7 P.M.

* Lindsay Davenport (2) vs. Nathalie Tauziat (8).