Hingis dignified after big defeat

There were almost twice as many waiting to hear the postmatch thoughts of Martina Hingis as there were for Lindsay Davenport, the winner of the Australian Open women's singles title on Saturday. But those who were hoping that Hingis would put her foot in her mouth were disappointed.

The Swiss teenager was perfectly gracious towards her opponent, freely admitting that Davenport's play had been "intimidating and uncompromising . . . she kills you."

As Andre Agassi, who acted the spoiled brat in his younger days, has said: "It's not easy growing up in public. It takes time." Hingis, still only 19, is starting to mature. Hingis has been a champion all her short life, from junior to senior tennis, exuding the concomitant self-belief that has occasionally spilled over into arrogance and bad sportsmanship, notably at last year's French Open final. She has lost her last three grand slam finals and from now on will surely need to push herself to her physical limits in order to remain competitive against the big hitters such as Davenport and Venus and Serena Williams.

The French Open is the only grand slam Hingis has not won but, after further compelling evidence in this final that she simply cannot cope with the power game of Davenport on hard courts, the slower red clay of Roland Garros probably represents her best chance of adding to her five slam titles.

Davenport's crushing 6-1 7-5 win might have been even more emphatic but for an attack of the jitters when she was leading 5-1 in the second set.

This was her fourth successive victory over the Swiss teenager, all in straight sets. "Martina is a great player and she's going to win lots more grand slam titles," said the American. "There are not a lot of days when you go out there and feel unbeatable but this was one of them."

Hingis will doubtless take some comfort from her brief second-set revival, but Davenport duly finished her off with imperious ease.

"I just can't play you," Hingis admitted to Davenport as they waited for the trophy ceremony, and she later said: "I felt all the time that I had to play close to the lines and take risks. I was really nervous." In 1997, the year Hingis won the first of her three successive Australian Open titles, together with Wimbledon and the US Open, the big hitters were dormant: Graf was injured, Davenport struggling, and Venus Williams was a raw novice.

Yet that same year, in the French Open final when Hingis had not fully recovered from a riding accident, Croatia's Iva Majoli ran her off the centre court with her pounding groundstrokes. The writing was on the wall.

Hingis has worked extremely hard on her fitness and remains a wonderfully creative player, but she simply cannot trade power and will surely never dominate the sport again, at least at grand slam level.

Davenport on the other hand must stand a real chance this year of capturing all the other slams, and is giving herself an extra week to prepare for Roland Garros.

For the American the days of self-doubt are long gone; for Hingis they are just beginning.