It was Wimbledon with a twist here yesterday. No play for five hours on the outside courts -because of the heat! What players and spectators alike would have given for a refreshing SW19 downpour or two.

They were dropping like flies as the temperature peaked at 40.7 degrees Celsius, but Martina Hingis remained cool and collected, as if taking a bracing walk in the Swiss Alps back home.

How very different from her last match here four years ago. Then, in the final against Jennifer Capriati, she suffered from dehydration and exhaustion as she surrendered a record four championship points. After that particular meltdown the tournament committee revised the extreme heat rule - which had initially been met with fierce resistance from the men's and women's governing bodies - lowering the temperature above which it was considered unsafe to play to 35 degrees.

But the temperature kicked in too late on Rod Laver Arena yesterday to save young Michaella Krajicek, who was forced to retire, suffering from heat exhaustion.

Hingis's match had started earlier in the relative cool of the late morning and she breezed along. The Swiss miss has made the final here on her last six visits. What odds on the three-time Australian Open champion doing it again and completing one of the most amazing comebacks in tennis history?

Whatever happens now, she has defied expectation by reaching the last 16 after more than three years out of the sport. But more than that she has done it with all of her old grace and brilliance plus a little extra oomph on her shots for good measure. Yesterday Iveta Benesova, the conqueror of the much-fancied Mary Pierce, was despatched almost as effortlessly as Vera Zvonareva and Emma Laine before her, losing 6-4, 6-1 in one hour and six minutes.

Benesova, the Czech with the Greta Garbo looks, was in contention for just seven games, after which she wilted as Hingis dismantled her hitherto confident game with a glorious mixture of drop-shots, volleyed drives and slices, and above all great tactical awareness. A world No 348 never looked more accomplished. After that poor Benesova, like Garbo, probably just wanted to be left alone. "She made me feel so uncomfortable because she's a very smart player," said the Czech.

With both the Williams sisters beaten and the Belgians Justine Henin-Hardenne and Kim Clijsters, struggling - if they are to be believed - with their fitness, Hingis could not have chosen a more opportune moment to make her return to the game, which she said she did because "nothing satisfied me as much as being back on court". The dream final, Maria Sharapova versus Hingis, could yet happen.

The weather yesterday morning, as Hingis conceded, "wasn't as cruel and brutal" as it was a short while later for Krajicek, who at just-turned 17 was one of the youngest players in the main draw. Had the extreme heat rule come into effect when the match started the roof on the Rod Laver Arena would have been closed and the air conditioning switched on. Instead she was required to finish her match against No 3 seed Amelie Mauresmo under the blazing sun.

Richard Krajicek, the 1996 Wimbledon champion, had warned his younger sister about the heat here, but nothing could have prepared her for the furnace she walked into. She was then required to run around for maybe two hours in on-court temperatures estimated at 55 degrees by Fabrice Santoro, the experienced French player.

As it turned out, the Dutch girl lasted just 31 minutes before trudging disconsolately off court after losing the first set 6-2. "I think she made a very sensible decision to retire," said Tim Wood, the chief medical officer, "she was fighting a losing battle."

Wood had been instrumental in the tournament acquiring an extreme heat policy back in 1998 and was happy with it, pointing out that it was the only Grand Slam event to have one "even though the heat can get pretty extreme at the US Open as well". He said the policy would be reviewed at the end of the championships. The forecast for today, by the way, is hotter still.

Asked if she thought it was dangerous to play, Krajicek, who had to lay under an ice blanket for an hour before talking to the media, answered: "You saw the result. I was feeling really bad when I got off the court. I couldn't even see the ball because my eyes were burning so much. I was scared because I've had this experience already [in Rosmalen two years ago]."

Hingis thought it important to be in perfect physical shape for the Australian Open, which presents inherent difficulties coming so soon after the Christmas and New Year holidays. With what seemed a veiled criticism of Serena Williams's condition, she said: "Under these circumstances only the fit survive because you see so many ankle rollovers and those sort of things when the players get tired, like [Hana] Sromova against Justine and last night Serena."

Of course, the men's world No 1 Roger Federer is capable of exerting his own extreme heat policy and though Hingis's fellow countryman came to the court yesterday evening long after the temperature had subsided, he still managed to make life unbearably hot for the Belarusian Max Mirnyi, whom he beat 6-3, 6-4, 6-3.

The match between Slovakian Dominik Hrbaty and Russian Igor Andreev started in the glare of the day and therefore had to finish outdoors while others had long since moved to the air-conditioned comfort of indoors. The pair sweated it out for three and a half hours before the supremely fit Hrbaty came through to win 1-6, 6-4, 6-3, 2-6, 6-4. It was not the only reason he was smiling afterwards.

At the US Open last year, he was widely mocked by his fellow players for wearing a baby-pink shirt with two large holes cut out the back, revealing his shoulder blades. There is no truth in the rumour he was yesterday selling those same ventilated shirts to his critics for a small profit.

From Sporting Life:

 TENNIS NEWS

Hingis shows her joy at going through. (Getty)

By PA Sport staff

Martina Hingis admitted she was relieved to have finally prevailed after overcoming local favourite Sam Stosur in a second set tie-break to progress to a showdown with Kim Clijsters in the quarter-finals of the Australian Open.

Hingis looked to be cruising to victory after an emphatic first set with the Australian making a string of unforced errors before Stosur rallied in the second only for the Swiss to win 6-1 7-6 (10-8).

"I played really well for the first one and a half sets, I would say," said Hingis.

"Boy, 5-3, 30-0, I'm like 'Please, two more points', but it took me a while until we finished that match. She's a great fighter. She started attacking more.

"Also, partly because I was getting tired or just loosened up a little, it was all nerves just toward the end, and after being down 5-2 in the tie-breaker I was just happy to finish it off in straight sets."

Hingis - a three-time winner in Melbourne - broke her 21-year-old opponent twice in a first set which lasted just 23 minutes.

However, in the second the home favourite rallied forcing errors from Hingis to break the former world number one four times before Hingis moved into a 5-3 lead and two points from victory.

Stosur, however, held and forced the tie-break where she raced into a 5-2 lead before Hingis responded to set up her last-eight clash with Clijsters.

The Australian enjoyed the experience and paid tribute to Hingis, returning to the tournament on a wild card.

"Martina is just an unbelievable player. She anticipates really well. She's awesome," she said.

"It's just an awesome experience playing in front of a crowd like that. It's something I will never forget."

While the former world number one and Clijsters were both tested in tough matches, fellow seeds Amelie Mauresmo and Patty Schnyder claimed straightforward victories to secure their places in the last eight.

The Belgian struggled to overcome Francesca Schiavone despite claiming victory in straight sets.

The second seed appeared to be troubled by injury as she hit 43 unforced errors but the Italian could not capitalise and Clijsters prevailed 7-6 (7-5) 6-4.

Schiavone appeared set to claim a shock one-set lead after going 4-1 ahead in the tie-breaker but the US Open champion hit back.

The pair traded breaks in the second set before Clijsters again broke to claim victory.

Mauresmo barely worked up a sweat as she crushed Nicole Vaidisova 6-1 6-1, and cruised through the first set without making one unforced error.

In the second it was virtually the same and the match was over in under an hour meaning Mauresmo has now reached the quarter-finals on her last four trips to Melbourne.

The Frenchwoman will now meet number seven seed Schnyder who was almost as emphatic in her disposal of Anastasia Myskina whose long forehand on match point was one of 32 errors she made during the game.

The Swiss player took just 54 minutes to defeat the number 12 seed 6-2 6-1 to reach her third consecutive quarter-final at the Rod Laver Arena.

Martina Hingis will face the biggest test of her grand slam comeback and Kim Clijsters the greatest test of her injured hip when they meet in an Australian Open quarter-final at Melbourne Park.

Hingis has not dropped a set in her four matches so far, in her return to grand slam tennis after a gap of more than three years.

Her most recent victim was Australia's last player remaining in singles action, Samantha Stosur.

Clijsters, the world No.2, will be the first top-10 player Hingis has met in the tournament and will therefore provide the most telling indicator of just how good the Swiss former world No.1's comeback form is.

But Clijsters has her own questions to answer.

The Belgian has also won all four of her matches in straight sets, and after entering the tournament with a hip problem, is yet to be stretched enough to prove the injury is not hampering her game.

Clijsters said she planned to ignore the sense of occasion that will doubtless surround the match and simply focus on playing her best tennis.

"I'm just going to go out there and play my own game and that's it," she said.

"Martina, obviously she's a great champion, but when you're out there you just focus about what you have to do.

"When you're younger you're more aware of who your opponent is.

"But as you get more experience and you play the best players out there you don't think about that at all." Hingis is the only unseeded woman in the quarter-finals, with all seven other women ranked in the world's top eight.

In other quarter-final matches, German Nicolas Kiefer meets Frenchman Sebastien Grosjean and third seed Amelie Mauresmo will meet Swiss player Patty Schnyder.

On Wednesday night, world No.1 Roger Federer, who survived a five-set scare against German Tommy Haas on Monday night, will play Russian Nikolay Davydenko.

Following that match, Stosur will be back on Rod Laver Arena in the women's doubles.

Stosur and American Lisa Raymond are the world's No.1-ranked combination, and will meet German Anna-Lena Groenefeld and American Meghann Shaughnessy in a semi-final

Beeb report.............pity for Hingis.....my favorite WTA Lady !

Clijsters ends Hingis fairytale







Clijsters was playing Hingis for the first time since the Swiss returnedKim Clijsters ended Martina Hingis' comeback at the Australian Open with a battling 6-3 2-6 6-4 win to set up a semi-final with Amelie Mauresmo.

The second seed quickly went 4-0 up and although Hingis broke back, Clijsters' fierce strokes saw her seal the opener.

Former champion Hingis slid 2-0 down in the second but dug deep to break Clijsters twice and level the contest.

The players traded breaks in a tense decider, but Clijsters' power proved decisive and she served out the match.

The Belgian 22-year-old seemed to be on her way to a comfortable win as she broke Hingis to love in the first game.

After taking the first set, she had Hingis on the rack at 0-2 and 0-40 down in the second.

But Hingis refused to cave in and clawed back all three break points before going on to break Clijsters in the next game.

She's definitely improved a lot, even compared to when she was at her best


Clijsters on Hingis

The 25-year-old used all her subtlety to bamboozle the second seed with an array of shots while Clijsters lost her focus, making a host of unforced errors as Hingis broke her again to force the decider.

Clijsters responded by breaking Hingis in her first service game for the third set in a row.

The Swiss again rose to the challenge and broke back but this time Clijsters did not waver and immediately claimed a second break at 4-3 before serving out the match.

Clijsters was full of praise for Hingis, who was playing her first Grand Slam tournament in four years as a result of long-term injury problems.

"She's definitely improved a lot, even compared to when she was at her best," said Clijsters, who will now take over the world number one ranking form Lindsay Davenport.

I think I can be proud of myself - I just have to work harder


Ex-number one Martina Hingis

"After the year I had last year, this is the cherry on the cake, it just tops it off," added Clijsters, who has had major injury problems of her own.

Hingis was upbeat despite her defeat, saying: "I think I can be proud of myself - you just can't think you're going to go out there and win everything.

Hingis victory a mixed blessing

MARTINA Hingis's comeback has only just begun, and already it has yielded something she never achieved in her previous nine years on the pro tour - a mixed doubles title.

The former world No.1 yesterday capped her return to grand slam tennis after more than three years away by combining with Indian Mahesh Bhupathi to win the Australian Open mixed doubles final in Melbourne.

Hingis and Bhupathi, wildcard entrants, beat Canadian Daniel Nestor and Russia's Elena Likhovtseva 6-3, 6-3 in 65 minutes.

While Hingis already has 40 singles titles and 36 women's doubles tournament victories to her credit - including three singles and four doubles at the Australian Open - she had never before even reached the final of any mixed doubles tournament.

It capped a great fortnight for Hingis, who exceeded her expectations by making the quarter-finals in the singles.

Hingis will soon be in top 10: Sharapova

TOKYO: Martina Hingis will soon be back among the world's elite players after making a strong return to the game in Australia, Maria Sharapova said on Monday.

Former world number one Hingis reached the Australian Open quarter-finals last week in her first Grand Slam since retiring through injury in 2002.

Her performance in Melbourne lifted Hingis 232 places to number 117 in Monday's new world rankings and Sharapova backed the Swiss to break into the top 10.

“Women's tennis is at such a high level right now that everyone in the top 10 is a rival,'' said Sharapova before this week's Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo.

“Martina is not in there yet, but I'm Sure she will quickly get into the top 10.''

Sharapova won last year's Pan Pacific Open while Hingis shares the record of four titles with Lindsay Davenport, having won the tournament in 1997, 1999, 2000 and 2002.

Hingis began her comeback earlier this month and said her performance in Melbourne, where she also won the mixed doubles crown with India's Mahesh Bhupathi, had given her a huge lift.

“Definitely I played good tennis `down under' and it is really nice to be back,'' said Hingis, who received a wild card for the $1.3 million event in Japan.

“I always had good memories in Tokyo and if I can carry on from Australia I will be very happy. But it's a new week and new opponents.''

Russian Sharapova, who was beaten by Belgian Justine Henin-Hardenne in the Melbourne semifinal, is scheduled to meet Hingis at the same stage at Tokyo's Metropolitan Gymnasium.

Americans Davenport and Serena Williams pulled out last week with injury.

Four of the top eight seeds are Russian with Elena Dementieva, former French Open champion Anastasia Myskina and Elena Likhovtseva joining Sharapova in the draw.