Capriati to meet Hingis in Australian Open final

Defending champion Jennifer Capriati seized control after a shaky second set and advanced to the Australian Open final with a 7–5, 3–6, 6–1 victory today over Kim Clijsters.

Seeking her third title in her last five Grand Slam events, Capriati now faces a rematch of her 2001 final here with three–time champion Martina Hingis.

Capriati said her first title defense would feel strange.

"For the first time, going up against her, it's like I'm the one favored to win. I know how she feels being in that position, because I was in that position last year. I know she wants it bad, but I want it bad too."

Capriati was inconsistent against Clijsters as she split the opening sets before dominating the deciding set.

Hingis reached her sixth straight Australian Open final by overcoming Monica Seles with agile retrieving, winning 4–6, 6–1, 6–4.

Capriati once again had a hard time with Clijsters, who extended her to 12–10 in the deciding set in last year's French Open final.

After four consecutive service breaks, she won the first set with a forehand crosscourt and then a backhand error by Clijsters on an easy chance.

In the second set, Clijsters cut down on her errors and Capriati was missing frequently. The Belgian, seeded fourth, took the set with a sharply angled forehand half–volley.

Capriati saved one break point in the final set's first game and again began pressuring her opponent into errors.

She broke in the second game and again in the sixth, where she sent a deep lob that Clijsters misjudged and then couldn't recover in time to return.

Capriati won the final game at love on two backhand misses by Clijsters and two aces, including one on match point.

"I think it was important to get that first game and not to get broken," in the third, Capriati said. "I regrouped and said to myself, 'This is it. I'm going to give it all I've got'."

Capriati said she allowed Clijsters to dictate too much in the second, "but I changed it up a bit, became more aggressive and it started to work. Eventually, she just broke down."

Clijsters finished with 46 errors, including 24 in the first set. She won only one point at the net in the third and didn't hit a backhand winner. Capriati won five of her six points at the net in the deciding set and had eight winners against two for Clijsters.

Against Seles, Hingis was grunting in an effort to reach heavy shots, and sometimes screeching when she came up short.

"I believe in it again now, and it's a great feeling," said Hingis, whose most recent Grand Slam title was the 1999 Australian Open.

Seles, a four–time Australian winner, used her power to prevail in the first set. She had to save two break points in a game that lasted 10 minutes and included five deuces for 3–1, and save another two for 4–4. She broke Hingis in the first and ninth games, and was broken in the sixth.

For the rest of the match, Hingis relied on her volley, waiting for Seles to miss or for an opportunity to put the ball away herself.

Seles had 40 unforced errors, while Hingis had 12. Seles led in groundstroke winners 36–20.

Hingis raced to a 5–1 lead in the final set, but couldn't serve out the match at 5–2 as Seles starting hitting winners again.

Seles, who has nine Grand Slam tournament titles but none since the 1996 Australian, held serve for 4–5, but Hingis won in the next game when Seles, attacking the net, hit a backhand crosscourt wide.

"You always question if you're capable of winning another if you haven't won a Grand Slam in three years," Hingis said. "You put the past behind. If I was able to do it once, I can do it again."

Over the last three years, she said, other women on the tour caught up with her, "but I've raised my level."