Hingis’ triple treat

MELBOURNE, Jan 30: Martina Hingis won her third straight Australian Open women's singles title today, outclassing unseeded Frenchwoman Am...

MELBOURNE, Jan 30: Martina Hingis won her third straight Australian Open women’s singles title today, outclassing unseeded Frenchwoman Amelie Mauresmo 6-2 6-3.

The Swiss teenager locked a brave Mauresmo out of the final by taking the ball early to neutralise her nervous opponent’s power and topspin.Hingis closed out the match in 67 minutes, breaking Mauresmo’s serve in an enthralling final game that saw the French 19-year-old save six Championship points.

“Thank you Christophe, thank you Sylvie for being here with me. I love you both and maybe next time, I hope,” Mauresmo said in French to friend Sylvie Bourdon and coach Christophe Fourniere after accepting the runner-up’s silver plate.

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Local television crews hounded Mauresmo off the court. Hingis, 18, fought back in the fifth game of the second set to enforce what proved to be a crucial advantage after the pair twice swapped service breaks. Then came the remarkable final game when Hingis repeatedly fired winners to all corners of the court, only forMauresmo to claw back from the brink with winners of her own.

Mauresmo ran out of shots and netted a backhand on the final point. “I just played some awesome tennis,” Hingis told the crowd after her win. The win gave Hingis her fifth Grand Slam title after winning Wimbledon and the US Open in 1997. It was her sixth Australian title, including three straight doubles victories here.

Algerian-French artist’s work vandalised at Kochi art gallery over ‘obscenity’ allegations

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Algerian-French artist Hanan Benammar's linocut prints were vandalised by two artists at an international exhibition in Kochi. The exhibition, curated by Anushka Rajendran and Damian Christinger, was organised by the Kerala Lalithakala Akademi and opened on October 18.

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