Martina Hingis v Monica Seles - Australian Open 2002 Semifinal | AO Classics

Every sport thrives, doesn't it, on its classic rivalries. Tennis is about to parade over the next few hours. Two from its own treasury here in Northern Park. Semifinals, the women's singles first, and they're down on court there. Martina Hingis and Monica Sellers. She's come out just throwing absolutely everything at Hingis here. Hingis is just hanging on early in this match. Just scrambling, just defending. She did well. That's good. Just relying on placement here, not trying to power the ball away. She knew the court was open. Weathered the storm and worked her way into the net. Oh, lovely. Watch this, she hits this, stays there, stays right behind the service line. They've got no hope of picking up any angled shot there. The break back is to three all. And just good movement of the ball here from Hingis, side to side. And exposing that lack of mobility on this occasion. This is where Monica has trouble running out wide on that forehand side. A good comeback from Hingis, although the signs the last couple of games will be hard for Monica to keep up that level. Four games to three. Hingis leads four games to three. Hingis has weathered the early storm. It was a fierce onslaught, a barrage of winners really. But the last couple of games, Monica's missing. So lovely, instinctive player Hingis covers the exact right spot. And even though it's hit well by Sellers, Hingis had it covered. She is going to continue to go for everything. Looks on as the cheers seem mostly to be for Monica Sellers. Come on, Monica. The urging of the crowd as Sellers steps up to serve for the first set. Leading five games to four. At the early break, that sort of aggression, appreciated too. Well, it's all on her racket, isn't it? Whether she wins or loses. She doesn't really worry too much about what Hingis is doing. If she can reach it, she is going for it. The serve is the best I've seen it for a long, long time. A couple of clean aces, but it's the quality of the serve overall that's made the difference. Set point. Finish her off. Good defensive work there from Hingis. And then finally able to get in a winning position herself in the rally. Took a lot of hard work there. And she does. Too long. Hingis leads two games to three. Perfect. That is superb hitting. A little frustration here now for Hingis. The second serve. Triple break back point. The fastest serve, 160. And another well placed first serve from Hingis sets up the point. She's missed it. She certainly looks worried. As well as she might be. I mean, her daughter's just scrambling and hanging on here. Salisbury threw herself off her feet. A couple of those shots. Just eased off fractionally on the winning one. So after the net cord, she needed to either move back to the baseline or to move well forward to the net. Towards the net, she stayed just behind the service line and out of position. Well, she plays without fear. No doubt about lost the opening point with a double, but no thought of playing conservatively on the next point. Should be able to dictate the way she has for a lot of the match. Yes, the question is, can she keep it up over three sets? If she can, actually, it might only be two sets. Two doubles in this game, though, haven't helped. Double faults. Two of them. Second serve here. Punished by Hingis. A break for 5-1. Now she's smart, isn't she? Shaped up as if to really drive this. At the last moment, just comes underneath the ball. Monica well behind the baseline. Placing a serve very well today, Hingis. She has to, of course, with these power returns, but she is getting them close to the lines. Sometimes. Let's say she's a bit disappointed with that, but she is really moving well in this match, Martina Hingis. She has picked up some tremendously powerful drives and kept the ball in play. And just by making Salas play one or two more shots in some of these rallies, it's drawing an error from her. And there's the placement again. That's been a big factor on her serve. Two games to live. Hingis taking the ball. Salas' own treatment. Got it again. That's perfect. That was a tough shot. Salas had sliced the ball. It was skidding. Here's the slice. Hingis has got to lift this up over the high part of the net. Great control. There's that sneaky little ace. So, serving with great accuracy today, Martina Hingis. And the drop shots don't even have to be that good when you can see where she'd forced Hingis back to with the previous shot, well behind the baseline. Oh, yes. She's actually hit 31 winners herself, which is a bit of a surprise because they're not hit with such huge gusto and flourish and power that the Salas winners seem to come with. Not happy with her slice backhand there. It just landed midcourt and an easy put away. Martina Hingis, Salas eventually forcing the error. Game point. Well, that often happens, such a long and tough point previously that you see a short point the very next one from one or either player. The previous one, I think, was out. Yes, exactly. There's that one. Long. So, this is the last effort here, I think, for Salas. She doesn't win this game. Hingis thought she was home. Seemed to mind about going to 5-2. She was confident of serving it out, but pretty negative game there. And Hingis, well, she'll have to serve for it again. And the crowd really appreciating this fight back from Salas. I think, like us, they thought it was all over at 5-1. And they're really appreciating her efforts here, Monica Salas. Well, she's provided the crowd with their money. It's been a terrific semifinal. Hingis has had the chance to put it away once and failed. Here she goes again, 5-4. Well, that would be the first point. And then the placement is back there on the second. More confidence to go for it. She saw, well, she saw Salas just moving in that direction. Thought, I'd better aim a bit wider. And missed it. Can you believe that? Looking skyward. And she has a fine overhead. Never seen her miss an easier run than that. And Salas, really, I'm not sure why she would have played that. She had to be positive. Tried a little slice forehand, which is not her best shot. Match point for Martina Hingis. Courageous hitting from Salas. She's into the final.