Teens Come Of Age In U.S. Open

The revolution Martina Hingis started is turning into a teen takeover of women’s tennis at the U.S. Open.

Hingis stayed on target to win her third Grand Slam of the year at the still-tender age of 16 as she moved into the Open’s round of 16 Saturday with a 7-5, 6-2 victory over Elena Likhovtseva.

That put three teens in the final 16.

The only one of the new breed sporting a belly button ring is Olga Barabanschikova, 17, from Belarus. She served for the match against Florencia Labat at 5-4 in the second set, but fell 4-6, 7-6 (7-0), 6-1.

A day after Venus Williams, who just turned 17, advanced with an upset of No. 8 Anke Huber, Spain’s 18-year-old Magui Serna knocked off another seed, No. 16 Kimberley Po 6-4, 6-3.

Patty Schnyder, Hingis’ 18-year-old Davis Cup teammate for Switzerland, pushed No. 6 seed Lindsay Davenport before falling 1-6, 6-1, 6-4.

Mirjana Lucic, a 15-year-old Croat sensation, saw her final-16 bid fall short with a 6-2, 6-7 (7-3), 6-3 loss to No. 3 Jana Novotna.

That doesn’t mean the older players should be counted out. Ex-champ Arantxa Sanchez Vicario and Mary Joe Fernandez cruised into the fourth round, where No. 2 Monica Seles and No. 5 Amanda Coetzer had already arrived.

In men’s matches, top seed Pete Sampras topped Alex Radulescu 6-3, 6-4, 6-4; Richard Krajicek defeated No. 6 Alex Corretja in a walkover; Daniel Vacek bumped off No. 14 seed Mark Philippoussis, 7-6 (7-4), 7-5, 6-2; Scott Draper ousted American Jeff Tarango, 7-6 (8-6), 3-6, 2-6, 6-4, 6-4; No. 15 Petr Korda defeated Martin Damm, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 7-5; and No. 12 Felix Mantilla outlasted John van Lottum of the Netherlands, 6-7 (0-7), 6-2, 4-6, 7-6 (7-5), 6-2.