Hingis, Federer complete Swiss double

Published January 13, 2002

SYDNEY, Jan 12: Martina Hingis and Roger Federer completed a Swiss double at the Sydney International on Saturday.

Hingis showed no signs of the leg problem that forced her to pull out of Friday’s doubles final when she beat American Meghann Shaughnessy 6-2 6-3 to win the women’s title for the third time in six years.

Federer, who teamed up with Hingis to win last year’s Hopman Cup, made it a Swiss double when he beat Argentina’s Juan Ignacio Chela 6-3 6-3 in the men’s final.

Hingis hardly raised a sweat on a blustery day at Sydney’s Olympic tennis centre as he she raced to victory in just 58 minutes to claim her 39th career title and her first in 11 months.

The 21-year-old lost her number one ranking when she tore three ligaments in her ankle last October but recovered to make her comeback in Sydney, which she had already won in 1997 and 2001.

Hingis had an injury scare in Friday’s semifinals when she strained her left thigh during her three set win over Kim Clijsters, forcing her to withdraw from the doubles final.

But she appeared to be untroubled by the problem as she outclassed Shaughnessy in a lop-sided final to boost her confidence ahead of next week’s Australian Open.

“I think I surprised everyone by coming back and winning this tournament, including myself,” Hingis said.

Federer claimed his second career title after breaking through to win in Milan last year with a 50-minute victory over Chela.

Federer dropped only one set on the way to the final, and was quickly in control against Chela, breaking the Argentine baseliner in the sixth game to take the first set.

Federer broke Chela early in the second set to put himself in position to win then broke him again in the final game to claim the title.

“I’m happy to start a year like this,” said Federer, who finished last season ranked 12th.

“I really didn’t expect to win this tournament.”

CANBERRA CLASSIC

Israel’s Anna Smashnova upset top seed Tamarine Tanasugarn 7-5 7-6 on Saturday to win the Canberra Classic women’s tennis tournament.

Smashnova won a tight match to claim her fourth career title, and her second in a fortnight, and end Tanasugarn’s bid for a first WTA tour win.

The Thai had won eight times on the ITF tour but was chasing her first WTA title after losing her three previous finals appearances in Tokyo, Birmingham and Pattaya.

Tasmanian International

Slovakia’s Martina Sucha captured her first senior title on Saturday when she beat Spain’s Anabel Medina Garrigues 7-6 6-1 in the final of the Tasmanian International women’s tennis event.

Sucha, 21, won the first set tiebreaker 9-7 then cruised through the second after Garrigues strained her lower back.

Garrigues, who won her only WTA title in Palermo last year, had beaten dual grand slam champion Mary Pierce and defending champion and top seed Rita Grande to reach the final.—Reuters

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