Hingis' missed chance!

MELBOURNE, Jan 24: World number one Martina Hingis said today that she was disappointed her rival Serena Williams failed to make it past the fourth round of the Australian open because she wanted to knock her out herself, reports Reuters.

Speaking after she bundled French hope Sandrine Testud out of the Australian Open 6-1, 7-6, the confident Swiss teenager said she had been looking forward to renewing her rivalry with Williams, who beat her in last year's US Open final.

They were due to meet in the semifinals at Melbourne Park but their reunion was put on hold after Williams crashed out to Russia's Elena Likhovtseva.

"I thought I would have a good chance to beat her right here right now, especially because it has been my tournament for the last three years," Hingis said.

"She's one of the top players out there, you always want to compete against."

Hingis was in determined mood against the French 12th seed Testud on Monday, winning her match in 72 minutes to keep alive her hopes of winning the women's singles and doubles titles at Melbourne for the fourth time.

She broke Testud's serve twice in the opening set and calmly fought back from a 3-0 deficit in the second to force a tiebreak, which she won 7-3.

"It's been long days for me at the office," she said. "But you have to be ready every single time you go out there."

Her quarterfinal opponent will be Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario of Spain, who beat Austrian Barbara Schett earlier on Monday.

If she wins, she will play either Likhovtseva or Spaniard Conchita Martinez.

With Williams out of the way, Hingis unsurprisingly nominated second seed Lindsay Davenport as the hardest to beat and said she hoped to play her in the final.

Although they have been ranked number one and two for most of the past three years, Hingis and Davenport have only played each other once in a Grand Slam final. That was at the 1998 US open where Davenport won 6-3, 7-5.

The only other time Davenport has made a Grand Slam final was last year when she beat Steffi Graf at Wimbledon after Hingis was bundled out in the first round.

"Nobody really gives her credit for what she has done," Hingis said.

"I've lost to her three times already so I would love to play her in the final."