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Although she was thoroughly overwhelmed in the first set, once Hingis turned up the aggression a notch, she showed that her groundstrokes were a good match against Capriati's. The real problem was her serve. While Capriati was hitting first serves at more than 100 mph, most of Hingis's first serves were in the 70s. Capriati was serving winners; Hingis's serve was setting Capriati up to hit winners on the return.

Hingis remains the number one player in the world, but she's well aware that her serve is a major weakness that endangers that ranking. Capriati now moves up to the number four position, her highest ever.

While the women were busy in Charleston, Gustavo Kuerten and Hicham Arazi were battling for the first big men's clay court event of the year, the Masters Series Monte Carlo. Kuerten had a pretty easy time of it, winning 6-3, 6-2, 6-4.

Arazi arrived at this, his first Masters Series final by upsetting four seeds: Magnus Norman (3) in the second round, Cedric Pioline, the defending champ (14) in the third, Tim Henman (8) in the quarterfinals, and Sebastien Grosjean (9) in the semis.

Kuerten simply had too much firepower and accuracy for Arazi in the final. Kuerten's long strokes work best on clay, and the two-time French Open champion seems to be finding his form just in time to contend for a third title on the red clay of Roland Garros. This win in Monte Carlo should move Kuerten up to number two in this year's Champions Race.

Draw and injury freedom permitting, I'm expecting Kuerten and Agassi to play the French Open final. What's your prediction.

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