Hingis crushes Martinez

MELBOURNE, JAN 31: Martina Hingis became the youngest player of the open era to defend a Grand Slam singles title with a ruthless straight s...

MELBOURNE, JAN 31: Martina Hingis became the youngest player of the open era to defend a Grand Slam singles title with a ruthless straight sets victory over Conchita Martinez in the Australian Open today.

Hingis, the World No. 1-ranked player, claimed her fourth Grand Slam title in the past five tournaments with a 6-3, 6-3 victory in one hour, 26 minutes.

8220;To defend the title is much harder than coming here the first time when nobody expected me to win,8221; Hingis said. 8220;There was so much pressure 8230; I8217;m very happy to have continued to do this again in singles and doubles.8221;

Hingis earned 383,200 for the win while Martinez, the No. 8 seed from Spain, received 191,600.

The Swiss star is the youngest player 8212; male or female 8212; to defend a Grand Slam singles title since the open era started in 1968, eclipsing Monica Seles8217; record set when she defended her French Open crown in 1991.

Hingis, 17, won her first title in last year8217;s Australian Open, becoming the youngest Grand Slam champion thiscentury, when she beat Mary Pierce in the final.

She lost the 1997 French Open championship match to Iva Majoli after undergoing knee surgery following a horse-riding accident but rebounded to claim the Wimbledon and US Open titles.

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Hingis was broken in the first game of today8217;s final but responded immediately, breaking Martinez8217;s serve to love and breaking again in the fourth game.

Hingis took the set with her third set point as Martinez, 25, the 1994 Wimbledon champion and playing her second Grand Slam final, dropped a backhand into the net after 40 minutes. The second set also started with two breaks. Martinez was 1-0 down but broke Hingis for 1-1.

Hingis broke again in the fifth game for a 3-2 lead and took the match with a break in the ninth as Martinez hit a backhand wide.

Martinez, who out-served Lindsay Davenport in the semifinals struggled from the service line during the final, winning just 43 percent of her first serves.

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Bjorkman-Eltingh win: Sweden8217;s Jonas Bjorkman and DutchmanJacco Eltingh beat Australians Todd Woodbridge and Mark Woodforde 6-2, 5-7, 2-6, 6-4, 6-3 to win the doubles title.