NEWSWIRE

Martina Hingis kept her winning streak alive in the Family Circle Cup, even if her game lagged a little Friday.

Hingis, the world’s top player, won the first seven games against No. 11 Natasha Zvereva, then held on through a second-set tiebreaker to reach the semifinals with a 6-0, 7-6 (7-0) victory at Sea Pines Racquet Club at Hilton Head Island, S.C.

Zvereva’s screwball assortment of lobs, spins and slices caught up with Hingis after a quick opening set.

“In one way, it’s fun to play her,” Hingis said. “But it also just makes you crazy.”

Hingis swept to the title in her last appearance in the tournament two years ago. This week, she has mostly showed the same confident style and aggressive swagger in beating Silvia Plischke and Conchita Martinez. Hingis has won her last eight matches in the event, still far short of Chris Evert’s tournament record of 32 consecutive singles victories.

Today, she’ll play third-seeded Jana Novotna, a 6-2, 6-4 winner over No. 16 Henrieta Nagyova.

No. 6 Patty Schnyder needed a third-set tiebreaker to top No. 14 Elena Likhovtseva, 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (7-3), and move on to play No. 7 Anna Kournikova, who had the easiest path when Andrea Glass retired early in the second set because of a left hip flexor strain.

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Unseeded Hoang Ly of Costa Mesa and Amarit Rojsirivit of Alta Loma upset the No. 3/4 seeded team, Colorado’s Bob Malaythong and David Welch, 15-13, 15-8, in the men’s doubles quarterfinals at the U.S. National Badminton Championships at the Orange County Badminton Club in Orange. The semifinals for mixed doubles begin at 2 p.m. today, followed by the men’s and women’s singles and doubles semifinals. The finals begin Sunday at noon.