HONG KONG, JAN 8: World number one Martina Hingis suffered an upset defeat by Jennifer Capriati in the final of an exhibition tennis event.The American beat Hingis 7-6 4-6 6-3, a result which put her in upbeat mood for the new year.Talaja topsSURFERS PARADISE, Australia: Croatia's Silvija Talaja won her first singles title with a three-set victory over former Wimbledon champion Conchita Martinez at the Australian women's hardcourt championship.Talaja, 21, the seventh seed, beat third-seeded Martinez 6-0 0-6 6-4 at the Royal Pines Resort. The Croat, who beat second seed Anna Kournikova and fourth seed Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario on the way to the final, was making her fourth appearance in a tour final since turning professional six years ago.Enqvist advancesADELAIDE: World number four Thomas Enqvist of Sweden and Australian teenager Lleyton Hewitt set up a repeat of last year's final with semifinal victories at the Australian men's hardcourt championship.Top seed Enqvist beatfriend and compatriot Magnus Norman, the third seed, 3-6 6-2 6-2. Hewitt ousted France's Nicolas Escude 3-6 6-1 6-4.SA win Hopman CupPERTH: South Africa beat Thailand to win the Hopman Cup mixed-team tournament on Saturday. The combined firepower of tour veterans Amanda Coetzer and Wayne Ferreira was too much for young qualifiers Tamarine Tanasugarn and Paradorn Srichaphan, who had beaten top-seeded Australia and Slovakia to reach the final.Coetzer outlasted Tamarine 3-6 6-4 6-4, rallying back from 0-3 in the second set. Ferreira power-served his way past Paradorn 7-6 6-3 but not before a 26-point tiebreak to decide the first set.Kiefer poised for No 1DOHA: Nicolas Kiefer, favourite to win the Mobil millennial tournament and to become the first World number one of 2000 under the ATP Tour's new rules, will seek revenge on Saturday in order to achieve those goals.The top-seeded German's remarkable 6-1, 6-0 victory over eighth-seeded Dutchman Sjeng Schalken earned him asemi-final with Frenchman Fabrice Santoro the player who beat him at the Australian Open in January last year. Schuttler, who last year won the title as a qualifier, also reached the semi-finals unseeded, beating the tall serve-and-volleyer from Belarus, Max Mirnyi, 6-2, 6-3. The tall and imposing Younes El Aynaoui of Morocco stands between him and his second successive final.
