Hingis Return Businesslike Defending Champion Romps; Williams Sisters Set To Meet

Neither rollerblading through the corridors nor jumping horses over fences like last year, Martina Hingis returned all business to the scene of her first Grand Slam triumph.

Hingis bounced back from a loss to Venus Williams in a tune-up a week ago to race through her first match in the Australian Open today, 6-1, 6-2 against Wiltrud Probst.

Probst surely is nowhere near the player Williams is, and Hingis had little more to do than keep the ball on the court and wait for the German to whack it out. Hingis experimented with her game, sometimes serving and volleying, sometimes spinning the ball in novel ways.

The top-ranked Hingis, who won three majors last year while going 75-5 in matches, played with more seriousness than usual. She’s well aware that she will have to raise her game a notch to cope with the threats emerging in women’s tennis this year from both Williams sisters, Anna Kournikova, Mirjana Lucic, a revived Arantxa Sanchez Vicario and, soon, Steffi Graf.

“I can only learn from that loss in Sydney,” Hingis said.

In other women’s matches, No. 9 Sandrine Testud, No. 10 Anke Huber, No. 14 Dominique Van Roost and No. 16 Ai Sugiyama advanced, while 1996 semifinalist Chanda Rubin ran into another rut in her comeback from injury as she fell 6-2, 6-4 to Jana Nejedly, a Canadian qualifier from the satellite tour.

In men’s matches, the third-seeded American Michael Chang did not have an easy time with 91st-ranked Kenneth Carlsen of Denmark, defeating him 6-3, 7-6 (7-2), 5-7, 6-3, and Andre Agassi, ranked 87th, came back against the 133d-ranked Italian qualifier Marzio Martelli, 3-6, 7-6 (7-3), 6-2, 6-2.

U.S. Open finalist Greg Rusedski, seeded fifth, served 27 aces in beating David Witt 7-6 (7-4), 6-3, 6-4. French Open champion and No. 12 Gustavo Kuerten also won, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 against Spain’s Jacobo Diaz. Thomas Muster, No. 8, fell to Sweden’s Jan Apell 6-4, 7-6 (7-5), 7-5. No. 13 Goran Ivanisevic lost in four sets to Jan Siemerink.

Eight years ago, when the Williams girls played each other in a tournament for the first time, lanky, towering Venus whomped her shrimp of a sister, Serena.

“Let me win a game,” 8-year-old Serena begged Venus, a year older and a foot taller, during that 10-and-under final in Arcadia, Calif.

Venus obliged, satisfying herself with a 6-2, 6-2 victory.

In miles and years, it’s a long way from Arcadia to the Australian Open, where the Williams sisters now find themselves facing each other in the second round.

They are playing so well these days, routinely knocking off higher ranked and more experienced players, that this match could easily have waited for the final if not for the bad luck of the draw. After Venus beat Hingis in Sydney last week, Serena proceeded to beat No. 2-seed Lindsay Davenport.

In the Australian Open, they are looking just as tough as unseeded threats.

Serena came back from a set and a break down in the first round Monday against sixth-seeded Irina Spirlea to win 6-7 (5-7), 6-3, 6-1. Venus followed that with a 6-3, 6-0 victory over Alexia Dechaume-Balleret.

Serena and Venus don’t play full matches when they practice against each other, but there’s no holding back on the mini-sets they play.

“She smoked me a few weeks ago,” Serena recalls. “But then the next time we played, I smoked her a little. We go at it pretty hard. We just don’t keep score.”

They play similarly aggressive games, each wielding hard serves, strong groundstrokes and potent volleys. Venus, nearly 6-foot-2, is still taller and has longer arms, but the 5-foot-10 Serena’s more muscular legs allow her to cover the court as easily.

“My forehand is better than hers,” Serena says. “Her backhand may be a bit better than mine.”

For years, as Venus drew more and more attention as the next tennis phenom, there were always knowing comments from those familiar with the family that Serena might be even better. Even Venus acknowledged that.

Those comments are being echoed these days by several pros, including Davenport and Sanchez Vicario, despite Venus’ ascension to the U.S. Open final last September. Serena, they say, has a better serve, is more consistent and varied on groundstrokes, and seems to hit the ball crisper.

“I like it when my opponents fear me,” Serena said. “However, I don’t think Venus has a reason to fear me. I have no reason to fear her also.”