Australian Open: Hingis taking nothing for granted
Martina Hingis will not read too much into her previous matches with Jennifer Capriati ahead of their Australian Open final meeting.
In five matches going back four years Hingis has never been beaten - and the only set she has dropped was in their very first meeting.
But Capriati's victories this week over Monica Seles and defending champion Lindsay Davenport have alerted Hingis to take nothing for granted.
"I'm not going to underestimate her, that's for sure," said the 20-year-old world number one, trying for her fourth Australian Open crown in five years.
"Beating Monica was big for Jennifer because she had never done it in a Grand Slam. She got her confidence there and against Lindsay she had nothing to lose.
"We live in the same resort (in Florida) and I saw her at the courts every day in December. Taking tennis as a serious business has paid off for her, as it has for me."
For 24-year-old Capriati, the teen wonder who went off the rails eight years ago and became involved in drugs and shoplifting, it is her first-ever Grand Slam final and the culmination of a remarkable comeback. For Hingis it is her 11th. But she has not won one since her last Melbourne Park triumph two years ago.
She had her own mini-crisis two summers ago when she was in a terrible state at the French Open, serving underarm at one point, and then - against the backdrop of a row with her mother and coach - going out in the first round of Wimbledon to 16-year-old Jelena Dokic.
Hingis has also been overshadowed in the past 12 months by the rise of Venus Williams, but a 6-1 6-1 thrashing in Thursday's semi-finals confirmed in no uncertain terms that she has tipped the balance her way again.
While Williams and her sister Serena took a two-month break at the end of last season Hingis kept sharp. She has lost only one match in her last nine tournaments, a run that began after her semi-final loss to Venus in the US Open.
"I'm not as tall or big as them (the two Williams and Davenport) - and I never will be. I have my own game plan and it's really working at the moment.
"I've always had so much respect for Jennifer. The first time we played she said it was like watching a mirror.
"I've noticed when I've practised with her that she knows every shot. This court sets up nicely for her with her big groundstrokes, especially her forehand. If she's on a roll she definitely can play very good tennis."
