Lindsay outpowers Martina

MELBOURNE, Jan 29 (Reuters): Martina Hingis may be one the smartest, most accomplished players in women's tennis but not even her clever tactics can save her against opponents who hit the ball much harder than she does.

Lindsay Davenport, who gave Hingis a 6-1, 7-5 beating in today's Australian Open final, is one such player.

Davenport, who stands 19 cm taller and weighs 20 kg more than Hingis, is a far more powerful player. She can also set up points as well as Hingis does - although she smashes the ball so hard she rarely has to bother.

Her serves, on average, were 20 kph faster than those of Hingis. Her groundstrokes seemed to be even faster still.

While Hingis tried to settle into a rhythm and engage Davenport in long baseline rallies, the American just went for shots, smacking winners off both sides as a frustrated Hingis started making simple mistakes.

Hingis is one of the best returners in women's tennis. She stands up close like Andre Agassi to get an early swing on the ball. But today, as she fought for her fourth straight Australian title, she was mostly reduced to poking and blocking the ball just to keep it in play.

That gave Davenport the time and space she needed to go for her shots. Everything she went for seemed to come off.

"It was just one of those days when it all came together for me," the American said.

"At times it seemed too easy, I just couldn't believe how well I was playing."

Davenport held her opening service to love then broke Hingis for the first time in the next game when the defending champion hit a forehand long.

She moved to a 5-1 lead with an ace timed at 163 kph then took the opening set after just 19 minutes when Hingis made another unforced error.

Hingis, who threw a tantrum after losing last year's French Open final to Steffi Graf, started to show the first real signs of distress when she was broken in the fourth game of the second set but managed to hold her composure, just.

Her errors continued to mount as Davenport added to her misery with a flawless display to open up a 5-1 lead. Her nerves in tatters, Hingis even hit a double fault on a break point.

Serving for the match, Davenport, who went into the match under an injury cloud with her left thigh heavily bandaged, suddenly started to unravel.

She had got within two points of victory when suddenly she started making mistakes, hitting two backhands into the net and a forehand over the baseline and struggling to move freely.

Hingis, sensing a comeback, perked up. She held her own service then broke again, cleverly playing the ball shorter to make Davenport run more.

The Swiss Miss got to 5-5 and her trademark smile was back. Lifting her head for the first time, she glanced at her mother in the stands, loosened up her shoulders and took in some of the applause.

The crowd too were starting to shift in their seats before Davenport slammed the door shut just as quickly as she had let it swing open.

The world number two held her serve for 6-5 with two stinging backhands down the line then broke Hingis to love when she hit another unforced error of the backhand.

"Nobody is as consistent as Lindsay. Probably Serena (Williams) at her best or Venus (Williams) but they are not as powerful," Hingis said of her great rival.

"Lindsay is just no compromise. You get a shorter ball, bang, boom.

"She kills you right away, no mistakes."