No. 2 Chang Out; No. 4 Hingis, Unseeded Pierce Advance

Named for a champion and raised since birth to become one, Martina Hingis capered into the final of the Australian Open and a confrontation today with 1995 champ Mary Pierce.

The 16-year-old Hingis, seeking to become the youngest Grand Slam champion this century, kept her string of straight-set victories going with a 6-1, 6-3 victory against two-time Australian Open finalist Mary Joe Fernandez.

Unseeded Carlos Moya thrashed No. 2 Michael Chang to reach the men’s final in a stunning odyssey that began with a first-round knockout of defending champion Boris Becker.

Moya, seeking to become the first Spaniard to win the Australian Open, outplayed Chang from the baseline and the net in a 7-5, 6-2, 6-4 victory that showed off all his talent and touch.

The 20-year-old Moya, whose flair on the court and long-haired good looks have made him one of the most popular players with fans, will play for the title Sunday against the winner of Friday’s Pete Sampras-Thomas Muster semifinal.

Hingis, who hasn’t dropped a set in the tournament, produced perhaps her finest performance against Fernandez and assured herself of moving up in the rankings from No. 4 to No. 2 behind Steffi Graf.

Pierce, meanwhile, bids to become the first unseeded Grand Slam women’s champion in two decades.

Blowing on her fingers as if they were smoking after she rifled winners into the corners, Pierce put on as much of a show for fans as she did a clinic for Amanda Coetzer in a 7-5, 6-1 rout. No unseeded woman has won the Australian Open, or any Grand Slam event, since Chris O’Neil in 1978.

The last unseeded finalist in one of the majors was Mima Jausovec of Yugoslavia, who lost to Chris Evert in the 1983 French Open.

In 1994, Andre Agassi became the first unseeded U.S. Open champion since Australian Fred Stolle in 1966.