INDIAN WELLS – Martina Hingis didn’t carbo-load Friday night, but had enough white rice and roasted vegetables on her plate for a nutritious dinner.
She was prepping for a marathon match Saturday.
As the top-ranked player in the world, Hingis was facing the No. 2 player, Lindsay Davenport, for the women’s singles title at the Indian Wells Tennis Masters Series.
Perhaps her pre-match meal should have been a big helping of the Breakfast of Champions.
Hingis needed all the energy she could get because Davenport wore her down, dominating the third set to capture a 4-6, 6-4, 6-0 victory.
Davenport has now won five straight matches in the long-standing rivalry with Hingis. She is the only player in the Top 20 to hold a winning record against Hingis in head-to-head competition, leading the series, 11-7.
Hingis was sharp in the first game, battling to overcome Davenport’s 4-3 advantage early. She tied the match at 4-4 before taking her first lead and closing it out, 6-4.
She later noted, however, that she didn’t bring her "A-game" to the table.
"I lost my concentration,’’ said Hingis, who defeated Davenport in the 1998 Indian Wells final. "I was getting tired and had to do most of the running.
"I was too defensive at the end. I was holding my serve, but it wasn’t good enough. It worked out well in the first set and also in the second. I was holding my serve, but it just was not good enough again.’’
She was good enough to take home $160,000 in prize money. Davenport pocketed $330,000, an increase over last year’s top prize of $200,000.
Hingis just never took the chances she needed and lost focus, something she admits she can’t do against a player of Davenport’s caliber.
She remembered a call in the first game changed the tone of the match.
"I thought it was wide on her serve at 30-all,’’ Hingis said. "Once things like this happen, you don’t get another chance…not as many.
"Against a player like her, it’s too late then. Maybe someone else, but against Lindsay you have to make four points in a game, not just two or three.’’
The two continue to dominate the women’s circuit.
Both have captured 27 WTA Tour titles, but it’s been Davenport in the end since last November.
Both players advanced to the finals in Scottsdale two weeks ago, but never played due to inclimate weather and thus split the prize purse.
Hingis, however, has held the No. 1 spot in the rankings for 134 straight weeks.
Yet it’s Davenport who is off to the best start of her career. She’s appeared in six straight finals since last fall and snapped Hingis’ 12-match winning streak (20 of 22 this season).
"It’s a little depressing losing to her all the time, especially in the past,’’ said Hingis. "There’s so many other players.
"You kind of hope always when I’m on top and she’s on the bottom that somebody else will beat her."
Few have and Hingis found out why in the third set.
Hingis hangs her game on running and defense, but admitted she was too defensive when she had numerous opportunities.
"On the court today, I was very concentrated from the beginning on because I knew I had to be there right away… not to make the same mistake as I did in Australia (against Davenport in the final)... just to slip away the first and second set basically.
"I think I did that very well today. It’s just that one little thing still missing. I usually have the advantage over the other players. Right now, I feel that Lindsay has that over me."
Despite her runner-up finish, Hingis cruised through the tournament and into the finals.
She won all five matches in straight sets.
It began with Amy Frazier, 6-3, 6-3; then moved to Ai Sugiyama, 6-1, 6-2. No. 10-seed Barbara Schett was her next victim, 6-1, 6-1, before Hingis trounced Monica Seles in the quarterfinals, 6-3, 6-1.
In the semifinals, Hingis eliminated Mary Pierce, 6-4, 6-4.
Her run ended when she couldn’t finish.
"I learned that I had my chances and didn’t take it,’’ she said. "Just to focus, concentrate and finish it off… not just wait for her to make the mistakes, but stay aggressive, stay in the game."