Hingis Wins Du Maurier Open

MONTREAL (AP) â€” Martina Hingis retained her du Maurier Open tennis title Sunday when Serena Williams retired in the third set with a foot injury. <br><br>Hingis led 0-6, 6-3, 3-0 when Williams informed

Sunday, August 20th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

MONTREAL (AP) â€” Martina Hingis retained her du Maurier Open tennis title Sunday when Serena Williams retired in the third set with a foot injury.

Hingis led 0-6, 6-3, 3-0 when Williams informed chair umpire Anne Lasserre-Ulrich she was unable to continue playing.

Williams had received treatment at courtside after the second set for what appeared to be a blister on her left foot.

Hingis, ranked No. 1 in the world, won the du Maurier last year in Toronto.

With her 31st career tournament win, Hingis earned $166,000, while Williams won $80,000.

Hingis, 19, ended a three-match losing streak to the 18-year-old Williams, who beat the Swiss ace in a semifinal last week in Los Angeles.

The Hingis victory also snapped the Williams family winning streak. Serena Williams and her older sister Venus had won four tournaments in a row between them and had not lost to anyone except one another in 29 consecutive matches. Venus didn't play the du Maurier.

Hingis will keep her No. 1 ranking and will be top-seeded for the U.S. Open, the last of the four Grand Slam tournaments, which begins Aug. 28 in New York.

Despite the loss, Serena Williams, the defending U.S. Open champion, will jump from No. 7 to No. 5 in the WTA Tour rankings. Venus is ranked third.

The first set lasted only 21 minutes as Williams jumped on Hingis' second serve for winners and was overwhelming with her own serve, firing five aces.

Hingis got back into the match in the second set when Williams began missing the lines and earned a service break for 1-1. A poor service game by Williams gave Hingis another break for 5-3.

Williams was clearly flavoring the foot when Hingis broke her service again to open the third set. After a second service break for 3-0, Williams retired.

Hingis said she could understand how Williams could be injured.

``This surface is very difficult to play on,'' Hingis said after the match. ``It's the third tournament I'm playing and I feel it also in my muscles. It's just very tough on your whole body . . . It's not easy to play on this surface going into the U.S. Open.''