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[kban1]

Hingis dumps Sharapova


Tokyo: Swiss comeback queen Martina Hingis proved she was back to her best form by beating defending champion Maria Sharapova on Saturday for a final berth in the Pan Pacific Open tennis tournament.

The 25-year-old wild card entrant pulled off a stunning 6-3, 6-1 victory for her first-ever win against a top 10 player since she came back in action this season.

Seeking to regain the title she won in 1997, 1999, 2000 and 2002, Hingis will now take on second seed Elena Dementieva, who defeated fellow Russian fourth seed Anastasia Myskina 6-4, 3-6, 6-4.

“I feel definitely very good being in the finals again. I hadn’t thought to make it this far...,” said four-time champion Hingis.

“Everybody has always been asking me which player you want to play and I always said ‘Maria,’ because I’ve never played her and she’s a great champion, she has won Wimbledon at such a young age.

“I didn't miss much the key points and I put her under pressure. I couldn’t ask for more, because Maria is a number four in the world. I knew I had to come up with a great game and I did,” added Hingis.

[dhruvdeepak]

go baby go!

[Sahir]

Makes me wonder three things:

1.  How good could Martina Hingis have been, if she had not left due to injury?

2.  Did she really have to wait this long before making a comeback, or was she just low on confidence?

3.  How good were the Williams' sisters years ago when they clearly were completely dominant over even Martina Hingis, just before she left (maybe the other girls have not caught up as much as the Williams sisters have slid?  Obviously, it is a bit of both, but is it primarily the slide?  Would the Williams sisters at their best, at least Serena, still be way better than the rest?)

[dextrous]

She lost the finals, by the way, to another Russian

[toney]

2.  Did she really have to wait this long before making a comeback, or was she just low on confidence?

A lesson perhaps for people like SRT who tried to make early returns to the team.