Hingis Relieved Loser As Long Win Streak Ends

Martina Hingis frowned a few times, bounced her racket off the hardcourt and, gasp! was warned for racket abuse.

But she smiled a lot, too, as if to say, ‘I can’t believe I’m losing so badly.’

Even in a rare defeat, the world’s No. 1 player looked like she was having fun.

Lindsay Davenport blew a 5-0 lead and two match points in the third set before recovering to defeat Hingis 6-2, 4-6, 6-4 Saturday in the Acura Classic semifinals in Manhattan Beach, Calif., sending the 16-year-old Swiss sensation to only her second loss this year.

No. 2 seed Monica Seles routed Amy Frazier 6-0, 6-2 in a 51-minute night match to advance to today’s final. Last week, Seles lost to Hingis in the final at San Diego.

Hingis had won 17 consecutive matches on the WTA Tour since losing the French Open final to Iva Majoli in June. She’s 56-2 this year, including Federation Cup wins, and has nine tournament titles, including the Australian and Wimbledon championships.

She hadn’t lost a three-set match on the tour since the third round of the 1996 French Open.

“I’ll just start again,” she said. “You’re never happy when you lose, but it makes it easier for me.”

Hingis said she was tired after playing her third tournament in California in as many weeks, having won titles at Stanford and San Diego.

“Sometimes you’re also a human being,” she said. “It’s like a car - there’s no gas in there anymore.”

“Today I was the one who played well on a day she wasn’t her best,” said Davenport, who evened her career record against Hingis to 3-3.

Fifth-seeded Thomas Muster of Austria upset No. 2 Michael Chang 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (7-2) to move into the finals of the $2.3 million ATP Championship at Mason, Ohio.

Muster, the fourth-ranked player in the world, will play top-ranked Pete Sampras for the title today. In an afternoon match, Sampras defeated 14th-seeded Albert Costa of Spain 6-3, 6-4.

Muster, who has played four successive three-set matches this week, wore down Chang with precise placement of powerful baseline strokes.

Sampras was also very impressive.

“I think it’s the best I’ve served in my career,” said Sampras, who won 89 percent of his first serves.