Seles and Hingis set up semifinal showdown

January 27: Monica Seles and Martina Hingis came out on top today as a quartet of champions battled it out for the last two women's semif...

January 27: Monica Seles and Martina Hingis came out on top today as a quartet of champions battled it out for the last two women8217;s semifinal spots at the Australian Open.

In the men8217;s draw, Russia8217;s former French Open champion Yevgeny Kafelnikov ousted American Todd Martin 6-2, 7-6, 6-2 to become the only male seed still surviving.

The 10th-seeded Kafelnikov will play brilliant young German Tommy Haas, who beat 44th-ranked American Vincent Spadea 7-6, 7-5, 6-3 in today8217;s other men8217;s quarter-final.

Four-time champion Seles earned her first victory in six years over old rival Steffi Graf, turning the tables after a shaky start for a brutal 7-5 6-1 win.

Defending champion Martina Hingis had a more comfortable time of it against 1995 title winner Mary Pierce, dispatching the powerful Frenchwoman 6-3, 6-4.

Seles and Hingis will meet each other in tomorrow8217;s semifinals, with the winner taking on either World number one Lindsay Davenport or French giant-killer Amelie Mauresmo in Saturday8217;s final.

Fortennis fans, today8217;s showdown with Graf was the latest chapter in an historic rivalry8211; although Seles denied it had been anything more than just another day at the office.

Story continues below this ad

The two women had met 13 times before, six times in Grand Slam finals. Seles beat Graf in the 19 finals and in Melbourne in 1993, Graf beat Seles at Wimbledon in 1992 and in the finals of the 1995 and 1996 U S Opens.

It looked at first like Graf would end Seles8217;s winning streak. The German dictated almost every point for the first six games, hitting incredibly deep groundstrokes as she waited for an over-excited Seles to hit one wide or long.

Graf broke Seles8217;s first service game and traded breaks later on to serve for the set at 5-4.

Then her concentration abruptly disappeared, her shots started going astray, and Seles raced away with the next eight games for a one-set and 5-0 lead.

Story continues below this ad

Briefly, it appeared that Graf might launch one of her famous comebacks. Graf held her serve in the sixth game, only for the Seles to serve out thematch in the seventh.

8220;I got tired and nervous and I don8217;t know why I couldn8217;t turn it around again,8221; a disappointed Graf said.

8220;It was do or die out there,8221; said Seles proudly. In today8217;s other women8217;s quarter-final Hingis came out clearly on top of seventh seed Pierce, who had not dropped a set en route to the last eight.