Dateline: 01/27/02

Women's Singles Final:

Jennifer Capriati came back from a set and 0-4 down, saving four match points, to defeat Martina Hingis 4-6, 7-6(7), 6-2. The extreme heat had both players struggling to focus and keep moving. Once she lost the second set, Hingis was exhausted and dispirited, and Capriati won the third easily.

With less power and foot speed than most of her rivals, Hingis relies on remarkable intelligence, including unequalled anticipation, to compete well. The heat might have been responsible for her making two key tactical mistakes that cost her the match:

• On two of her match points, Hingis got a ball from Capriati that was short enough to attack with an aggressive drive. Instead of stepping up to take the ball fairly high and flatten the shot out somewhat for a clean winner, she let the ball fall, then tried to hit a high, deep topspin without much pace. The high, deep topspin is a valuable shot for neutral and defensive situations, but far from the best choice on an attackable short ball.
• One of Hingis's biggest strengths is her versatility, especially her ability to produce the full spectrum of spins. She didn't slice often enough against Capriati, only once every few games. When she did slice, it often threw off Capriati's timing, making her hit too early. Power hitters like Capriati don't have much margin in timing. Capriati missed each of three Hingis slices in a row during one stretch of several games. In a match where Hingis was one point from victory four times, a few more well chosen slices to draw an error could have made the difference.

Men's Singles Final

Thomas Johansson won 3-6, 6-4, 6-4, 7-6(4) over the heavily favored Marat Safin. Johansson did everything well, especially keeping his cool after two terrible line calls against him on important points in the first set. His backhand was especially effective, often more powerful than Safin's. Safin's power can be overwhelming when he's in top form, but he wasn't able to play as aggressively against Johansson. Safin's quality of play tends to vary quite a bit from day to day, and this day was a slightly off one, but he didn't play badly. The depth, pace, angles, and variety of Johansson's shots had a lot to do with keeping Safin from using his best shots.

Women's Doubles Final

Martina Hingis and Anna Kournikova beat Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario and Daniela Hantuchova 6-2, 6-7 (4), 6-1.

Men's Doubles Final

Mark Knowles and Daniel Nestor won over Michael Llodra and Fabrice Santoro 7-6, 6-3.

Mixed Doubles Final

Daniela Hantuchova and Kevin Ullyett defeated Gaston Etlis and Paolo Suarez 6-3, 6-2.

What do you think about the contrast between the way Capriati and Johansson handled line calls? Join our discussion.