Red hot Hingis silences critics

Martina Hingis has silenced the doubters who said she couldn't live with the new breed of power hitters taking over women's tennis.

And now she has the chance to get back to grand slam winning ways when she takes on Jennifer Capriati in Saturday's Australian Open women's final.

The 20-year-old world number one hasn't won a grand slam title in two years after capturing five as a teenager but gets the chance to end her drought against Capriati, who is playing in her first final.

Top seed Hingis reached the final the hard way, beating Serena then Venus Williams in the same tournament, a feat she'd never accomplished before, and will start a red-hot favourite against Capriati.

"I think I'm in very good shape and I felt like I still had it in me," the Swiss top seed said.

Hingis, who won the Australian Open in 1997, 1998 and 1999 then lost last year's final to Lindsday Davenport, came into the Australian Open in great form after winning the Hopman Cup for Switzerland then the Sydney international.

She won her first four matches in straight sets but almost came unstuck against Serena before pulling out a 6-2 3-6 8-6 win in what has been the best women's match of the tournament.

SPEED AND PRECISION

Hingis, who relies on her speed and precision to counter the strength of the bigger players, thrashed Venus 6-1 6-1 in Thursday's semifinal to reach her fifth straight final.

"If I win it this year I'll definitey have earned it," she said.

Hingis has beaten Capriati in each of their five previous meetings but said she was taking nothing for granted after the 12th seeded American upset Davenport 6-3 6-4.

"I feel like I have the winning record but from the last two matches I've seen, she's definitely in high form right now," Hingis said.

"She always plays very well here in Australia, the court suits her, it sits up nicely for her. She has those big groundstrokes, especially the forehand.

"If she's on a roll she definitely can play very good tennis."

Capriati capped a remarkable return to big-time tennis by making the final.

The former teen marvel had put together a series of firsts and youngest-ever marks when she burst onto the international scene in the early 1990s before dropping off the tour in 1994 when her career went off the rails.

But Capriati, whose gold medal winning performance at the 1992 Olympics was the highlight of her career, made a comeback, reaching last year's Australian Open semis before going one better this year.

"I really wanted it... it has taken me a long time to get to the final of a grand slam," she said.

"I didn't know if anything could top winning the gold but so far this is great and it'll be even better if I can win here.

"I've always had that (belief) and just not come through. I don't know what it is, but from the beginning of this tournament all of a sudden this confidence came over me.

"I was real proud of myself for just not letting the moment get to me (in the semifinal) and just being able to still focus and concentrate and play my game."