Fan upstages idol

8220;I started slow but as she let me into the game and I got into my rhythm I had few problems,8221; said Hingis, 19, who is now unbeaten in 27 singles matches at Melbourne Park.

Looking ahead to Saturday8217;s final, Hingis said: 8220;Lindsay is the top player out there with her solid groundstrokes. I lost to her three times last year so I8217;ll be trying to give it a shot. It8217;s number one versus number two.8221;

Hingis won Wimbledon and the US Open in 1997 but has not won another Grand Slam apart from the Australian Open since then.

She was runner-up in the FrenchOpen in 1997 and 1999, and lost the US Open finals to Davenport in 1998 and Serena Williams last year.

But she did not drop a set on her way to her 10th Grand Slam final in six years.

Martinez, 27, won the 1994 Wimbledon and was beaten by Hingis in the 1998 final here.

Davenport, who gets the chance for her third Grand Slam title against Hingis, is unbeaten in her major finals. She beat Hingis at the 1998 US Open and downed seven-time champion Steffi Graf at last year8217;s Wimbledon.

The capacity Centre Court crowd warmed to Capriati who played to near exhaustion.

After a lopsided first set of just 23 minutes, Capriati lifted her game to take the match into a tie-break. The breakthrough in the tie-break came on the ninth point when a Capriati backhand found the net after another sensational rally and a late call out gave Davenport two match points.

It was a tired forehand into the net which spelled the end for Capriati and put Davenport into her first Australian Open final in eight attempts.

8220;Veryrarely do I feel like I8217;m on the back foot and don8217;t control points but I felt like that today. Some of the rallies were long and I was getting tired and was lucky to get through in two sets,8221; Davenport said.

She paid tribute to Capriati 8212; her one-time idol. 8220;She played great tennis and she8217;ll be around for many more years.8221;

Capriati said she did not consider she was still on a comeback, saying at her press conference that she had achieved that last year.

8220;I was giving it everything I had to break her serve and hopefully I will be better prepared next time,8221; she said. It was Capriati8217;s first Grand Slam semi-final since the 1991 US Open.