Friendly Foes Resume Rivalry

Instant analysis from an opponent wasn’t what Lindsay Davenport expected to hear after a match.

Then again, there is only one Martina Hingis.

“She had the ability to come up and say, ‘You played so well today. How did you do that?’ ” Davenport said. “Or other times, she’d be like, ‘Gosh. I really did this well.’ ”

Davenport spoke a little more about their friendly rivalry and added, “A lot of her success is her confidence.”

Oh, really?

That’s not easy to forget although Hingis and Davenport haven’t played each other since the fall of 2001. That contest, in Filderstadt, Germany, ended after three games when Hingis quit because of an ankle injury suffered in the match.

They have played 24 times, with Davenport holding a 14-10 lead, and 16 of their matches were in finals, with two of them at Grand Slams. Davenport beat Hingis in the 1998 U.S. Open final and in the 2000 Australian Open final.

“Gosh, we played a lot,” Davenport said. “Probably the memorable ones to me are the ones I won. I remember beating her here [in Indian Wells] in the final in 2000. I remember being down a set and a break and that was exciting.

“Obviously in the Australian Open to win another Slam was pretty cool. I remember losing to her at the Championships in four sets, never being so tired.”

No. 25 of their rivalry will come Tuesday in the fourth round at Indian Wells in the Pacific Life Open. They got there with easy third-round wins Sunday. The second-seeded Davenport defeated Laura Granville, 6-4, 6-0, and Hingis, a wild-card entrant, beat Sybille Bammer, 6-0, 6-3.

This is a decidedly different chapter in their rivalry, considering that Hingis is in the seventh tournament of her comeback this year after having not played a full schedule since late 2002 because of injuries.

“I’m very excited. We’ve had great battles over the years, and now that I haven’t played her since my comeback, it’s definitely a great challenge,” Hingis said. “We always played one of the best matches because we knew every time we played, either we win the tournament or we were close to doing so. So [we] always brought the best tennis out of each other.”

Davenport was able to take control of the rivalry in 1998, though she dealt Hingis a significant loss in the semifinals at Manhattan Beach in August 1997. It was Hingis’ second loss in 58 matches that year. Beforehand, Hingis jokingly asked Davenport, who was deciding whether to serve or receive, if she wanted to have her serve broken in the first game.

The competitive spirit really never left in retirement. Hingis practiced with Justine Henin-Hardenne about a year ago in Florida and took it seriously. The top-seeded Henin-Hardenne, who beat Tsvetana Pironkova, 6-2, 6-2, in the second round, spoke about their session.

“She’s a real fighter,” Henin-Hardenne said. “I almost never saw a competitor like her. Even in practice, we are doing the toss and choosing who’s going to serve in practice. So I mean she’s tough.”

Hingis has played nearly all of the top players in her brief comeback. But she would rather face Davenport a little later -- the final would be preferable, just like the old days.

“I don’t think anyone wants to lose the [fourth] round of the tournament,” Hingis said. “That’s definitely one of the goals, that I try to move up as soon as possible, so I don’t have to face someone like Lindsay. But it’s here right now and one us has to leave the tournament.”