Hingis Puts Away Seles Teen Sensation Will Now Meet Iva Majoli In French Finals

Hopping for joy and kicking her legs like the 16-year-old kid she is, Martina Hingis celebrated as if she had won her second Grand Slam title.

She must, however, wait one more match for a French Open championship that would put her halfway to a rare Grand Slam.

“I mean, I have never been so happy after making a match point as this time,” she said. “So far, this is the nicest victory of my career.”

The top-seeded Swiss star defeated three-time champion Monica Seles 6-7 (7-2), 7-5, 6-4 in Thursday’s semifinals to extend her 1997 record to 40-0.

After her celebratory leap, Hingis asked a ball boy to hand her some balls, then fired three of them high into the stands.

Her opponent in Saturday’s championship will be another teenager, 19-year-old Iva Majoli. In a semifinal that seemed like an afterthought, the ninth-seeded Croatian overcame a bad cold and outlasted No. 11 Amanda Coetzer 6-3, 4-6, 7-5 to reach her first Grand Slam final.

For the first time since 1987, the women’s champion at Roland Garros will be someone other than Steffi Graf, Seles or Arantxa Sanchez Vicario.

Hingis leads Majoli 3-1 in career meetings.

“I have nothing to lose,” said Majoli, who was up most of the night with flu-like symptoms. “I can really just play the best tennis of my life.”

The semifinal results - coupled with defending champion Graf’s quarterfinal loss to Coetzer - further consolidated the changing of the guard in women’s tennis that Hingis represents.

“The way Martina is playing is just amazing tennis,” said Seles, the No. 3 seed who is now 0-4 against Hingis. “Martina is really good everywhere. She doesn’t have a weakness.”

Hingis, who replaced Graf as the No. 1 player in March, had uncertain expectations coming into the tournament. She hadn’t played a match since early April, and underwent knee surgery six weeks ago after falling off a horse.

Getting this far, Hingis said, was even more special than winning her first Grand Slam title at the Australian Open in January.

“My goal was to reach the semifinals,” she said. “Now I am in the finals and I have a great chance to win the whole tournament.”