Hingis completes Williams double to reach final

By Paul Tait

Martina Hingis will take on Jennifer Capriati in the Australian Open final after she crushed Venus Williams 6-1 6-1 on Thursday to reach a personal milestone by beating both Williams sisters.

Capriati also made her own little piece of history when the 12th seed upset defending champion Lindsay Davenport 6-3 6-4 to reach the final of a grand slam event for the first time.

The ease of Hingis's win over Venus was in stark contrast to her three-set epic against Serena Williams on Wednesday, when Serena served for the match before Hingis scrambled back in a gutsy performance.

Hingis had three times beaten one Williams only to lose to the other in the same tournament, most recently when Serena beat her in the 1999 U.S. Open final after the Swiss downed Venus in the semis.

"I felt like this time that it was definitely my chance because I felt like I'm in very good shape and I felt like I had it in me," Hingis said of her Williams sister double triumph.

Only two players had achieved the feat before -- Arantxa Sanchez Vicario in Sydney in 1998 and Steffi Graf at the same tournament the following year.

ERRATIC VENUS

Top seed Hingis might never have another match so easy against a Williams. An erratic Venus effectively gifted her the contest, hitting 38 unforced errors, including 22 in the first set -- two thirds of all the points Hingis won.

"I just had an off day," third seed Venus said.

"Today I just didn't seem to do the right things."

Capriati, 24, threw her arms in the air and cried when Davenport netted a forehand on her second match point to close out the first semifinal in 76 minutes on a hot and humid Melbourne Park centre court.

"I really wanted it... it has taken me a long time to get to the final of a grand slam," said Capriati, the former teen prodigy whose career stalled in the mid-1990s after a much publicised rebellion against authority and run-ins with police.

"I was really determined before the match and I just gave it everything I've got," she said.

Capriati, the 1992 Olympic gold medallist, was playing in her fifth grand slam semifinal and scored a surprisingly easy victory against a listless and error-prone Davenport, who beat her at the same stage in Melbourne last year.

"THIS IS GREAT"

"I didn't know if anything could top winning the gold but so far this is great and it'll be even better if I can win here," Capriati said.

Capriati broke second seed Davenport in the second game of the first set and quickly built a 3-0 lead.

A sluggish Davenport won only one point in the opening two games and appeared to have few answers to her U.S. compatriot's heavy groundstrokes.

Capriati broke Davenport again in the opening game of the second set before surrendering her serve for the first and only time in the next game.

Davenport set up another service break opportunity for the tenacious Capriati with a double fault and a forehand error in the fifth game of the second set.

Capriati took the break when an attempted Davenport passing shot bounced up off the net post, offering Capriati an open court to put the ball away. Capriati then safely served out the match against a tiring Davenport.

"I'm disappointed because in all the semifinals I've ever played this is the most disappointing I've ever showed up to play," said Davenport, who was playing in her 11th grand slam semifinal and had not lost to Capriati since 1997.

UNFORCED ERRORS

Davenport, like Venus Williams, gave herself little chance of success by hitting an uncharacteristic 43 unforced errors.

"She played great, she was really fired up but I thought I was not playing that well," she summed up afterwards.

Capriati cannot expect the same in Saturday's final against Hingis, who has conceded only one set in winning their five previous matches.

Hingis was in a steely mood against Venus, who again wore the revealing two-piece outfit which has grabbed more attention than her form since the tournament began.

Venus had fought back from the brink of defeat in another three-set quarter-final against 10th seed Amanda Coetzer but never looked capable of duplicating that effort against Hingis.

Hingis broke Venus's serve in the second game of the first set when the American pushed an easy forehand volley long.

Venus broke back in the next game but she handed Hingis the advantage again straight away, serving a double fault to set up another break point which the Swiss converted into a 3-1 lead. Hingis broke again in the sixth game before serving out the set.

The second set followed the same pattern, Hingis breaking Venus in the opening game when Venus pushed a forehand long, one of many seemingly easy shots she sprayed out of court. She broke again for a 4-1 lead and then a third time to close out the match.

"She was hitting a little bit wild today but I just didn't give her many chances," Hingis said.

In the only men's semifinal to be played on Thursday, local hero Pat Rafter will take on defending champion Andre Agassi.