Hingis, Williams to Meet Again

Another chapter is about to be written in the newest, and youngest, rivalry in women’s tennis.

Top-ranked Martina Hingis and second-seeded Venus Williams advanced to the finals of the Swisscom Challenge at Zurich on Saturday, eliminating a couple of old hands to set up a showdown between the tour’s highest-ranked teenagers.

Hingis, still looking for her first tournament victory on home soil, ousted 32-year-old Frenchwoman and eighth-seeded Nathalie Tauziat, 6-3, 4-6, 6-3, to reach her 10th final this season.

Williams, who lost in last year’s final to Lindsay Davenport, defeated third-seeded Mary Pierce, 6-4, 6-4.

The two 19-year-old rivals have met five times this season, with Williams winning their last match in the semifinals of the Grand Slam Cup two weeks ago. The time before, Hingis eliminated Williams from the semifinals of the U.S. Open.

“She’s at home and she’s number one,” said Williams, who is playing in her first tournament without a family member accompanying her. “They’ll be wanting her to win. I’m sure it’s something she really wants too.”

Added Hingis: “Venus doesn’t have her family here and I have the advantage of having my people around me. I’ve had to go through that myself [in Wimbledon this year].”

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Fifth-seeded Greg Rusedski of Britain defeated unseeded Roger Federer of Switzerland, 6-3, 6-4, to reach the finals of the $800,000 CA Trophy tournament at Vienna. Rusedski will face Germany’s Nicolas Kiefer, a 7-6 (11-9), 6-4 winner over sixth-seeded Dutchman Richard Krajicek, in today’s finals. . . . Top-seeded Marcelo Rios of Chile and unseeded Mikael Tillstrom of Sweden advanced to the finals of the Heineken Open at Singapore, with Rios defeating Australian teenager Lleyton Hewitt, 7-5, 6-3, and Tillstrom ousting 20-year-old Paradorn Srichaphan of Thailand, 6-4, 3-6, 6-3.

Auto Racing

Twelve people, including several members of Tyce Carlson’s crew, were injured when Niclas Jonsson lost control of his car on pit road during practice for the Indy Racing League’s Mall.com 500 at Fort Worth. None of the injuries were considered life-threatening. The two drivers were not among those treated. Jonsson was heading back onto the track after a pit stop when his car jerked left, directly into Carlson’s parked car, which was being worked on. Also, Greg Ray won the pole for the season-ending race, upping his lead in the season standings to 16 over defending champion Kenny Brack.

Rick Galles, owner of Galles Racing, said the final details are being hammered out for an IRL reunion between him and Al Unser Jr. The pair were together for nearly seven years and won the 1992 Indianapolis 500 before Unser went with Roger Penske in 1994.

Bob Strait, 50, averaged 114.968 mph to earn the first superspeedway victory of his career, winning the crash-marred Winn Dixie 300 ARCA race at Talladega, Ala. . . . Michael Schumacher of Germany, in his first qualifying in three months since breaking his leg in July, dominated the trials for the Malaysian Grand Prix at Sepang, finishing nearly a second ahead of teammate Eddie Irvine. It was Schumacher’s 22nd career pole, but only second this year.

Teammates Mike Skinner and Dale Earnhardt turned laps of 196.455 and 195.385 to grab the 26th and 27th starting position in the 43-car Winston 500 at Talladega. Both drivers were forced into the second round by engine problems during Friday’s qualifying.

Miscellany

Michelle Kwan successfully unveiled an elegant new short program and won the Masters of Figure Skating at Green Bay, Wis. . . . Three former University of Massachusetts women’s basketball players filed a $45-million lawsuit against the school because they say their coach’s yelling, insults and obscenities made their personal lives unbearable. Kara Trent, Nicole Vallieres and Tory Grant filed suit Friday in U.S. District Court in Boston, claiming coach Joanie O’Brien’s coaching style left them humiliated and anguished and defies the principles of the NCAA. . . . Twelve-year-old Romanian gymnast Andreea Raducan performed flawless floor exercises and narrowly missed another world title as the team won its fourth consecutive world women’s gymnastics title at Tianjin, China. Americans Kristen Maloney and Vanessa Atler withdrew from their final events. . . . Rodeo professional Jim Zolman died Monday in a hospital at New Mexico from complications after knee surgery. He was 45.