Hingis Follows Comeback Trail To Quarterfinals
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MELBOURNE, Australia – Martina Hingis’s comeback has gone so smoothly that she’s in the Australian Open quarterfinals following three-year layoff. Back on the tour for just three weeks, the three-time Australian Open champion advanced yesterday with a 6-1, 7-6 (8) victory over Samantha Stosur 6-1, 7-6 (8) and will face second seeded Kim Clijsters.
Hingis needed four match points to beat Stosur. The five-time Grand Slam winner, who dropped off the tour because of ankle, heel, and foot injuries, returned to competitive tennis January 2 and hasn’t lost a set at this tournament.
“I started off very well, I knew that I had to be right there from the start – we both probably were very nervous,” Hingis said. “I knew I couldn’t give her any momentum.”
Hingis was in vintage form, working Stosur around with angled volleys, drop shots, pinpoint lobs, and a stunning, running forehand crosscourt winner. But the 25-year-old twice missed chances to serve for the match in the second set and wasted three match points before converting on a Stosur error.
Stosur was the last Aussie in the draw and had the partisan crowd on her side. Clusters of people in pink shirts emblazoned with “Smash ’em Sam” and waving inflatable kangaroos chanted for her from the stands.
Hingis became a favorite at Melbourne when she won her first Grand Slam title at age 16 and won three finals in succession. She lost three in a row from 2000-02, including an ’02 defeat to Jennifer Capriati when she wasted four match points.
In her absence, Clijsters became known locally as “Aussie Kim” during her engagement to Lleyton Hewitt – which ended last year – and remains popular. Clijsters has been too sore to practice but showed no signs of the back and hip pain that has bothered her as she beat 15th-seeded Francesca Schiavone 7-6 (5), 6-4.
“I’ve probably been in the physio room more in the last week than in my life,” she said. “Hopefully it’ll pay off.”
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On the men’s side, fifth-ranked Nikolay Davydenko rallied from two sets and a break down to snap Dominik Hrbaty’s run of five-set wins with a 4-6, 4-6, 6-4, 6-2, 6-3 victory.
Hrbaty spent almost 14 hours on court in four matches and was only the fourth man to play four straight five-set matches at one major. No. 21 Nicolas Kiefer beat Juan Ignacio Chela and next plays no. 25 Sebastien Grosjean, who defeated fellow Frenchman Paul-Henri Mathieu.
