Venus Williams Survives Martina Hingis Test In World Team Tennis Rivalry Renewal

WASHINGTON--The latest chapter of one of the sport's biggest rivalries was written Wednesday night at Kastles Stadium, with Washington's marquee player Venus Williams taking on Martina Hingis of the New York Buzz.  It was Williams' only Washington appearance in her tour through World Team Tennis, while Hingis is playing the entire schedule with her team as a way to test the waters for a likely comeback bid.

The two most famously met in the finals of the 1997 US Open, where Venus stormed onto the tennis scene with beads and a bump.  Hingis had a huge advantage in both experience and court-craft, and won the match easily, 6-0, 6-4.

But as Venus grew into her power, the tables mostly turned.  Hingis did still notch several impressive wins over Venus as the American's game improved, including a 6-1, 6-1 clobbering in the semifinals of the 2001 Australian Open.

As much as their power vs. finesse matches thrilled on the court, the battles between the Williams family and Hingis generated incredible buzz from the press room.  The cattiness and swagger displayed by all made for far more interesting battles than have existed recently, something Hingis lamented in her pre-match press conference.

"Well it was a lot of the press, it wasn't us," Hingis said.

"We had, like, fun in the locker room.  We spoke, and we kept things on the court.  So it wasn't like we went back to the locker room and had a fight, no (laughs).  I mean we still kept respect for each other, and it was a friendly rivalry." 

"It was great. It was more the Williams  sisters against me and Lindsay.  And you had Jennifer, and Seles, and Anna, more different kind of people.  We had our styles.  I find that's been missing--it's very one-sided at this point." 

"But it's great that the sisters are still out there, and the Belgian girls.  Women's tennis needs people like that."

Venus, however, seemed to plead the Fifth when asked about the barbs traded throughout the women's game in the late 90s.

""I never trash talked," Williams said.

"Maybe someone else, but that's never been my thing.  There have been other people that probably get involved, but I try to stay out of it.  So I'm sorry that I'm not as interesting..."

Nor did any trash talking take place before the two met that night.  The opposite was closer to the truth, with Hingis taking clear measures to lower expectations.

"It should be fun--I have nothing to lose," she said.

"We've had great matches in the past, so hopefully I can bring some of that old rivalry out there.  It's a bit different now that she's been playing, and winning grand slams, and I haven't played for real in three years. I hope I can give her a little bit of a run, so I'm looking forward to it."

The marquee matchup drew a far more distinguished audience than your average World Team Tennis match.  Not only was league founder Billie Jean King in the stands, she was joined by Obama advisor Valerie Jarrett, DC Mayor Adrian Fenty, and Michael Wilbon of ESPN and The Washington Post.

The two first squared off Wednesday night in women's doubles, the second event of the evening.  On top of all the advantages that Williams had on Hingis one-on-one, the match was even more lopsided when their partners were considered.  While Hingis was paired with #68 ranked Sarah Borwell, Venus had the luxury of going into battle with six-time grand slam doubles champion Rennae Stubbs at her side.

And early on, the disparity showed.  Venus and Stubbs raced out to a 4-0 lead, hitting big serves and imposing their will at net without much objection from Hingis or Borwell.

But Washington side had trouble closing out what they started.  Some erratic serving from Williams and some nice touch at net from Hingis and Borwell let New York run off three straight games to make it 4-3.  But Stubbs was able to serve out the event in the eighth game to close out the set 5-3.

After men's doubles and halftime, the headlining fight on the card, Women's Singles, was set to begin.

Early on, it looked like it was going to be embarrassing.  Venus clocked consecutive cupcake serves past Hingis for return winners, leaving the slight Swiss seemingly shaken.  But Hingis soon found her footing, hitting a signature backhand slice dropshot winner, showing Venus and herself that she still had the craftiness to contend.

But power prevailed over precision early on, and Williams raced out to a 2-0 lead in the first-to-5 event.

Hingis got on the board in the third game, winning a close game to pull the event to 2-1.  She got more and more first serves in, preventing a first strike by Williams and buying Hingis the time she needed to set up her finesse.

Serving at 2-1, Williams hit a rocket of a first serve that broke Hingis' racquet.  Not her strings, but the actual frame of the racquet.  But with her back-up racquet in hand, Hingis began to force the issue more.  Her impressive anticipation forced Venus to press with more and more power.  Venus was grunting and struggling, and was eventually drawn into an error that gave Hingis the game to level the event at 2-2, a feat that Hingis punctuated with a fist pump.

Now that Hingis had become comfortable in the match, the tables seemed to have turned.  When Venus went for too much, Hingis waited for an inevitable error.  When she went for too little, it allowed Hingis to carve into the short part of the court with her trademark flair.

Hingis gained her first lead of the event by holding for 3-2, but huge Venus serves leveled the match at 3-3.  Hingis again took the lead soon after, put herself a game from the win by holding for 3-4 with a barrage of slices and deep forehands.

Serving to force a tiebreak, Venus dug herself into a quick hole.  Dropping three of the first four points in the eighth game, Venus faced triple match point against her.

But as it has done so many times in her career, Williams' booming serve got her out of trouble and forced a tiebreak.

The serve's overwhelming power carried into the decider as well.  Breaking a second Hingis racquet in the process, Venus harnessed her power effectively and convincingly won the tiebreak 5-2.

But the moral victory clearly belonged to Hingis, who had capably hung tough against a top five player despite almost three full years away from the sport.

The crowd emptied out after the singles had ended, though the two stars were both set to compete once more in mixed doubles.   Williams won that one as well, pairing with Leander Paes to beat Hingis and Scoville Jenkins 5-2 to complete the Washington sweep and improve the Kastles' record to 2-1, while the Buzz dropped to 0-3.

But despite being on the losing end of all three events that night, Hingis remained chipper after the match.

TDF: Were you surprised at how well you played, keeping it that close?

Martina Hingis: Well, obviously, you know, it's always a joy to play Venus.  In the beginning, I was hoping I would get some games going.  But then I even had chances to get the set.  But she's a great champion, so... You know, these are difficult circumstances--different playing team tennis than playing on the tour, obviously.  It was a great match, I'm pretty happy.

TDF: Do you think it's easier to play someone like Venus who you know? Because I know last night you had trouble with Abigail Spears, who is not quite the player Venus is. Is it easier to to get motivated playing a big name?

Martina Hingis: Well, you know a little bit what you have to do out there, strategically.  We've played like twenty matches against each other, even though it's been a while.  It definitely makes it a little bit easier, knowing what expect when you go out there.  I'm just happy to have played a good game.