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I got this from some tennis place.
Martina Hingis is so good it's scary, even to her.
The 16-year-old Swiss took just 62 minutes to trample 17-year-old American Venus Williams 6-0, 6-4 Sunday to win the U.S. Open women's singles crown, her third Grand Slam title of the year.
She cemented her place as the world's No. 1 player, and picked up a $650,000 dollar check that took her earnings for the year past three million.
No wonder she seemed a little surprised when asked how she would improve next year.
"What can I improve?" she said. "Sometimes I ask myself. It's a little scary."
Hingis became the sixth woman to win at least three Grand Slams in a single year since the Open era began in 1968. In that time, only Australian Margaret Court and Germany's Steffi Graf have won all four of the game's major titles in one year, Court in 1970 and Graf in 1988.
Some observers, including 18-time Grand Slam champion Chris Evert, have hinted that Hingis might not have found her rise to the top so easy if Graf had not been sidelined all year by injury.
"It's not my mistake she's not playing here," Hingis said of Graf, U.S. Open champion in 1995 and 1996. "You know, whenever she is going to come back, she's for sure going to be always a dangerous player.
"But having Williams on the other side is not the easiest thing in the world either. Also Lindsay Davenport and Monica Seles are nothing to forget about, too."
Hingis didn't have to face Seles at the U.S. Open, as the second-seeded American was upset in the quarterfinals by 11th-seeded Romanian Irina Spirlea.
Williams took care of Spirlea in the semi-finals, reaching the final in only her third Grand Slam appearance, and the supremely confident Hingis had little trouble exploiting her inexperience.
In fact, even fresh from the victory ceremony Hingis recalled her semifinal French Open victory over Seles as her match of the year.
"I've never been as happy as after that match," Hingis said. "That was kind of like more than having a victory there."
But disappointment was in store in the next round at Roland Garros, as she lost in the final to Iva Majoli of Croatia. She regretted the one that got away, but at least it gives her a goal for next year.
"That's the tournament I want to win the most, and I haven't won that," Hingis said. "I think I'm going to have many more years in front of me to maybe win it one time."
Martina Hingis is so good it's scary, even to her.
The 16-year-old Swiss took just 62 minutes to trample 17-year-old American Venus Williams 6-0, 6-4 Sunday to win the U.S. Open women's singles crown, her third Grand Slam title of the year.
She cemented her place as the world's No. 1 player, and picked up a $650,000 dollar check that took her earnings for the year past three million.
No wonder she seemed a little surprised when asked how she would improve next year.
"What can I improve?" she said. "Sometimes I ask myself. It's a little scary."
Hingis became the sixth woman to win at least three Grand Slams in a single year since the Open era began in 1968. In that time, only Australian Margaret Court and Germany's Steffi Graf have won all four of the game's major titles in one year, Court in 1970 and Graf in 1988.
Some observers, including 18-time Grand Slam champion Chris Evert, have hinted that Hingis might not have found her rise to the top so easy if Graf had not been sidelined all year by injury.
"It's not my mistake she's not playing here," Hingis said of Graf, U.S. Open champion in 1995 and 1996. "You know, whenever she is going to come back, she's for sure going to be always a dangerous player.
"But having Williams on the other side is not the easiest thing in the world either. Also Lindsay Davenport and Monica Seles are nothing to forget about, too."
Hingis didn't have to face Seles at the U.S. Open, as the second-seeded American was upset in the quarterfinals by 11th-seeded Romanian Irina Spirlea.
Williams took care of Spirlea in the semi-finals, reaching the final in only her third Grand Slam appearance, and the supremely confident Hingis had little trouble exploiting her inexperience.
In fact, even fresh from the victory ceremony Hingis recalled her semifinal French Open victory over Seles as her match of the year.
"I've never been as happy as after that match," Hingis said. "That was kind of like more than having a victory there."
But disappointment was in store in the next round at Roland Garros, as she lost in the final to Iva Majoli of Croatia. She regretted the one that got away, but at least it gives her a goal for next year.
"That's the tournament I want to win the most, and I haven't won that," Hingis said. "I think I'm going to have many more years in front of me to maybe win it one time."
