U.S. Open A Breeze For Hingis Top Seed Dominates Partner, Faces Davenport In Semifinals

Serve tosses floated like beach balls in the breeze, groundstrokes flew crazily, and napkins scudded across the court.

Martina Hingis dealt with it all so effortlessly Wednesday night at the U.S. Open, as if she were riding the whipping wind past a befuddled Arantxa Sanchez Vicario, 6-3, 6-2.

For Lindsay Davenport, it took much more of a struggle to tame her game during the blustery afternoon and get past Jana Novotna, 6-2, 4-6, 7-6 (7-5), to earn her first semifinal berth in a Grand Slam tournament.

Hingis and Davenport will meet Friday, each knowing how to beat the other. Davenport dealt Hingis one of her two losses this year, and the only one on a hardcourt, in a three-setter last month in Los Angeles, just after Hingis won their three-set duel at Stanford University.

Davenport is seeking to become the first American-born women’s U.S. Open champion since Chris Evert in 1982.

“Right now, at this moment, I’m very happy to be alive,” she said.

Though the wind blew hard and chilly Wednesday evening, Hingis moved as smoothly as ever, peppered the lines and kept Sanchez Vicario, her doubles partner, running in frantic chases from side to side. Nothing glamorous, nothing dramatic, just a straightforward romp by Hingis that drew perfunctory applause from the shivering crowd.

“Arantxa played very different this time because I think the wind was bothering her,” Hingis said. “It was very strange. I almost didn’t make one mistake. I played nearly faultless.

“It doesn’t matter if it’s windy because no one will remember it was very cold out there if you lose. You just have to play your game (even if) it’s a different strategy.”

Sanchez Vicario sees in Hingis a player who has confidence on every shot, no matter the conditions. Though the temperature dropped close to 60 degrees, and felt much colder in the wind, Hingis played as if it were a balmy evening.

“Everything for her is working really well,” said Sanchez Vicario, the 1994 U.S. Open champion. “Every time she needs a shot, she hits a line.”

In a men’s quarterfinal, Greg Rusedski served at up to 142 mph, a U.S. Open record, to edge 1996 Wimbledon champion Richard Krajicek 7-5, 7-6 (7-5), 7-6 (7-5). Rusedski is the first British man in the U.S. Open semifinals since Mike Sangster in 1961.

Rusedski will play Jonas Bjorkman, who advanced when Petr Korda retired while losing 7-6 (7-3), 6-2, 1-0.