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When destiny arrived in town
Part 1 If 2003 is the summer of discontent for Martina Hingis and her fans, then 1997 was when destiny arrived in town. In the season ending championships of 1996 the 7th seed, Martina, reached the final and took world number 1, Steffi Graf, to a stunning 5 set marathon. Although she lost, it would only be a matter of time before Hingis stepped up and took over. Hingis started the 1997 season by playing the Hopman Cup, although they failed to make the final, Martina won all her matches and in fact only dropped 12 games in 6 sets, it was the perfect warm up to what was to be a perfect summer. As the Australian summer kicked, Martina moved from Perth to Sydney in her quest for Australian dominance. Receiving a bye into the 2nd Round, Hingis struggled through her match finally prevailing over Sabine Appelmans 6-3, 3-6, 6-1. A tough 7-6, 6-1 victory over Basuki in the Quarter finals was followed up by an easy 6-3, 6-2 victory of Mary Joe Fernandez of the United States. In only her 22nd Professional tournament Hingis had reached her 6th final. Incredibly it was also the 5th final in her last six outings and her 3rd in a row. The Final was a match of 3 distinct parts. Her opponent, the re-emerging Jennifer Capriati, was left floundering in the first set as Hingis weaved the ball to all parts of the court. Before the crowd had settled, Hingis had taken the first set 6-1. Capriati settled in the 2nd set and as had happened a number of times before, the 16 year old Hingis allowed her mind to wander. The wandering mind combined with Capriati’s deep ground strokes made for a see-sawing set that was finally taken 7-5 by Jennifer. Hingis immediately set her mind back on the job and crushed the hapless Capriati 6-1 in the 3rd. At 16 Martina had captured her 3rd title, all tier 2 events. Going into the Australian Open with a 7-0 record for the summer, the best was yet to come. |
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By
Brandon Carr