Martina Hingis battled back from a set down to beat Monica Seles in the semi-finals of the Australian Open in Melbourne this morning. The Swiss number three seed reached her sixth consecutive final at the tournament with a 4-6 6-1 6-4 victory over the American eighth seed. Hingis will now face top ranked Jennifer Capriati who overcame fourth seed Kim Clijsters, in Saturday's final.
The Swiss third seed was overpowered in the first set as Seles' superior strength forced Hingis on the back-foot. However, Seles tired following her exertions in the first and Hingis used all her guile and court craft to bounce back in the second before easing away in the decider. The American staged a late rally to come back from 5-2 down but pushed a forehand wide on Hingis's second match point to hand her victory.
Coming in to the match, Hingis held a 12-4 lead over her American rival in head-to-head matches played, but Seles had won the last two, both on this surface.
Filed by Shane Murray
