Hmmm. My favorite
Hingis match was with Steffi
at the French Open.
They both played hard, but
Hingis couldn't take the heat
and completely flipped.
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... Hingis served for the match at 5-4 in the second set but could not hang on, and the Roland Garros crowd jeered and whistled as the 18-year-old from Switzerland repeatedly battled with the umpire and linesmen. ...
Hingis, who lost her second French Open final in three year, received a warning and was penalized a point for several outbursts, and was frequently booed by the center court fans.
Graf, who was playing her first Grand Slam final since winning the French, Wimbledon and the U.S. Open in 1996, had all the sympathy on her side.
"Steffi, Steffi," the crowd chanted as the German kept coming back throughout the first two sets, against the Swiss star who dislodged her from the No. 1 ranking in March 1997.
Hingis was seeking the only Grand Slam title still missing in her collection, but she ran into a highly motivated Graf, who had been battling injuries for three years.
Hingis, who broke into tears after the match, walked off the court [!] after shaking Graf's hand, to the jeers and whistles of the French crowd. But she returned, still in tears and sobbing in the arms of her mother, Melanie Molitor.
Hingis was up a break twice in the second set and was serving for the match at 5-4 but could not close the match. ...
Hingis got a warning in the third game for smashing her racket to the ground and breaking it. She was penalized a point in the second after questioning a call and walking over to Graf's side [!] of the court.
Hingis, who ended Graf's record 377-week reign as No. 1, asked for the umpire to come down and show her the mark. The call stood. Hingis then walked to Graf's side of the net to point at what she thought was a mark inside the court. The call still stood.
Hingis, up 2-0 in the set, then sat in her chair and asked for the supervisor. There was no change in the call and Hingis was penalized a point for a court violation, giving graf a 30-0 lead in a game she won for 2-1.
There was more arguing in the next game, with Graf getting a call against her reversed. Knowing that another outburst could cause her to be defaulted, Hingis stayed calm and blasted a passing shot to take a 3-1 lead.
The crowd was again loudly behind Graf as she broke back in the sixth game, hitting a forehand to the corner that Hingis could not get back over the net. Graf held serve for 4-3 before one of the most exhilarating points of the match.
Graf and Hingis exchanged a spectacular array of drop shots and lobs that ended with Graf firing a simple smash into the net, and Hingis pulled even at 4-4.
A backhand winner put Hingis a break up and let her serve for the match, but she quickly faced double-break point. She saved one but netted a drop-shot attempt and Graf was back at 5-5. Graf won the next game at love and broke Hingis again to win the set.
Graf took the first game of the third before both players took a break. Hingis came out much later, with a new outfit and a new hairstyle, drawing more boos and whistles. [?!]
With Hingis looking dispirited, Graf whipped to a 3-0 lead. She dropped her serve in the fifth game, but broke right back to end any hopes Hingis might have had of coming back.
[Graf edges Hingis, captures sixth and 'last' French title (1999 French Open)]
The French are quite disabled in the cooth department.