Davenport Falls In Hopman Cup

Martina Hingis sent a clear message to Lindsay Davenport, beating the top-ranked American 6-3, 5-7, 6-2 Thursday to lead Switzerland to a 2-1 victory over the United States in the Hopman Cup.

It was the Swiss star's second consecutive victory over Davenport since losing the top spot to the U.S. Open champion in October.

"Every time you step on the court, you want to win and see how your rhythm is," said Hingis, the two-time defending Australian Open champion preparing for the Grand Slam event that begins Jan. 18 in Melbourne.

"It felt pretty good, especially the first set. She came back and I was happy to win the third set."

Davenport dismissed talk of a rivalry.

"I like playing against her. I have a good time with it, but there's a lot of girls right now that are very tough to play," Davenport said.

"The press tries to make such a lot out of a rivalry, but you just have to let it happen naturally over a couple of years."

Both players rallied furiously from the baseline, but there also were plenty of unforced errors. Davenport had 11 aces and Hingis nine, but Davenport also had seven double faults and Hingis eight.

Jan-Michael Gambill beat Ivo Heuberger 6-4, 6-4 in the men's match, and Hingis and Heuberger took the deciding doubles match 6-3, 6-3.

Australia qualified for Saturday's final when it edged France 2-1. The remaining place will be decided Friday, when the United States plays the Slovak Republic and Switzerland plays Sweden.

Jelena Dokic of Australia scored her second upset victory in two days, beating Sandrine Testud 6-1, 6-3.

Mark Philippoussis then outplayed Guillaume Raoux 6-1, 6-2 to give Australia a 2-0 lead. Although the host team dropped the doubles, it advanced when South Africa could only manage a 2-1 victory against Zimbabwe.

South Africa, which with France and Australia also had a chance to reach the final, needed to win 3-0.

Amanda Coetzer defeated Cara Black 6-3, 6-4, and Wayne Ferreira recovered from 1-4 in the first set to beat Wayne Black 7-5, 7-6 (7-4). But Ferreira suffered a groin strain during the singles and South Africa was forced to default the doubles.

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