SYDNEY - Switzerland's Martina Hingis firmed as favourite for the Australian Open after beating Lindsay Davenport 6-3 4-6 7-5 to win the Sydney international women's tennis title for the second time.
Australian teenager Lleyton Hewitt also confirmed his place as one of the top contenders for the Open, which starts in
Melbourne today, when he beat Magnus Norman 6-4 6-1 to become the first man since Pete Sampras in 1993-94 to win successive titles in Sydney.
Hingis finished last year ranked No 1 in the world but has not won a grand slam singles title in two years and is desperately hoping to end her drought.
She was beaten by Davenport in last year's Australian Open final but has started the new year fit and stronger than ever and gained a big psychological edge over her main rival with Saturday's victory.
Hingis looked to be well in control when she took the opening set in 31 minutes, and led 4-2 in the second. She then she started to unravel, incurring a warning for smashing her racket in frustration.
The American world No 2 broke back to win seven of the next eight games, taking the second set then racing to a 3-1 lead in the third, as she suddenly seemed to be in command.
But Hingis broke back to win six of the next eight games, getting the crucial break in the 11th game when Davenport missed a simple overhead smash, to capture her second Sydney title, having also won it in 1997. It left Davenport with her second successive loss in the Sydney final.
While Hingis was pushed all the way by Davenport, Hewitt had a far easier time, beating Norman in just 84 minutes.
He said he was feeling confident about his chances in Melbourne.
"I've been getting better and better with each match that I've played over the last two weeks and it's nice to cap it off with a tournament win," Hewitt said.
"I felt like I'm really starting to hit the ball well and I think I can take a lot of confidence about beating a guy ranked No 4 in the world going into the Australian Open."
Hewitt, aged 19, took the first set in 51 minutes and raced to a 5-0 lead in the second before wrapping up his seventh career title. His finals record since joining the tour is now 7-4.
He is the third player to have won the Sydney title twice. Pete Sampras won it in 1993 and 1994 and Todd Martin 1996 and 1999.
Anna Kournikova teamed with Barbara Schett to win the women's doubles title, after parting company with former partner Hingis.
The Russian teenager collected her 13th WTA doubles title and the first with her new Austrian partner when they beat top-seeded Australian Open champions Lisa Raymond and Rennae Stubbs 6-2 7-5.
Hingis said last week that she had decided to end her "Spice Girls" partnership with Kournikova to link up with Monica Seles.
Hingis and Kournikova won nine titles together, including the 1999 Australian Open, but went their separate ways after an on-court row during an exhibition tournament in Chile last November.
Hingis and Seles were favourites to win in Sydney after they beat sisters Serena and Venus Williams in the first round, but eventually withdrew from the competition so that Hingis could concentrate on the singles.
Top seeds Daniel Nestor, of Canada, and Australia's Sandon Stolle beat second-seeded Todd Woodbridge, of Australia, and Sweden's Jonas Bjorkman 2-6 7-6 (7-4) 7-6 (7-5) in the men's doubles final.
* Defending Australian Open champion Andre Agassi finished his preparation for this year's event with a hard-fought 6-3 3-6 6-3 win over Yevgeny Kafelnikov in the Kooyong Classic exhibition final in Melbourne.
The match was a repeat of last year's Australian Open final, in which Agassi beat his Russian rival in four sets.
Agassi, the sixth seed at the Open, won all three matches he played at the Kooyong Classic.
* Belgian teenager Justine Henin won the Canberra women's international final, beating France's Sandrine Testud.
The unseeded Belgian won 6-2 6-2 to claim her third career title and her second in a fortnight, after winning the Australian hardcourt title at the Gold Coast.
* Italian Rita Grande captured her first WTA singles title when she beat Jennifer Hopkins in the final of the Hobart women's international.
The 25-year-old, from Napoli, fought her way back after losing the first set 0-6 to beat the American 0-6 6-3 6-3.AGENCIES
Tennis: Hingis beats Davenport in countdown to Open
SYDNEY - Switzerland's Martina Hingis firmed as favourite for the Australian Open after beating Lindsay Davenport 6-3 4-6 7-5 to win the Sydney international women's tennis title for the second time.
Australian teenager Lleyton Hewitt also confirmed his place as one of the top contenders for the Open, which starts in
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