KEY BISCAYNE - Martina Hingis, concerned but not consumed about the arrest of a man charged with stalking her, beats Lindsey Davenport in the Ericsson Open final.
Lindsay Davenport, No. 1 on paper come Monday, was reminded Saturday that for at least 36 more hours, she's still No. 2.
Martina Hingis, who will be bumped from No. 1 in next's week's world rankings, ended a five-match losing streak against Davenport, winning 6-3, 6-2 in the Ericsson Open women's final. An awaited showdown at the Crandon Park Tennis Center instead developed into a 58-minute rout.
``Once I got down, I really felt I was in trouble from the start,'' Davenport said.
Davenport, who had won 21 consecutive matches before Saturday, clinched her No. 1 takeover by beating Sandrine Testud in a drawn-out three-set semifinal Thursday night. That match's toll still was being felt two days later.
``I was definitely a step slow today; I felt really heavy,'' Davenport said.
The first set was a load. Twenty-three unforced errors over a mere 30 minutes, compared to Hingis' seven, set the tone for the match, which was played on a windy, hot, humid afternoon that made it hard for Davenport to overpower Hingis, as she has at times.
``I like this weather,'' Hingis said. ``Tough conditions, that players like Lindsay or Monica (Seles) or Mary (Pierce) or the Williams sisters (Venus and Serena) can't just simply overpower me with their serve or groundies. I have more chances because I can run and get as many balls back as I can.''
With a crowd of 13,529 watching, Hingis upped her record against Davenport to 11-8, regaining momentum in what has become the premier rivalry in women's tennis. It's a good time for a turnaround; the circuit now shifts to clay courts, leading to the year's second Grand Slam tournament, the French Open.
Another re-set: Saturday, Hingis was the hunter. For at least several days she had been the hunted.
A 45-year-old groupie, Dubravko Rajcevic, was arrested Friday at the tournament and charged with stalking Hingis. Hingis' mother, Melanie Molitor, told police the man has been following her daughter around at other tournaments. Rajcevic also was charged with trespass after warning; he had been told on Wednesday by police to leave Crandon Park and not come back.
In light of the stabbing of Monica Seles seven years ago, this sort of thing can't be taken lightly. That said, Rajcevic was released on $1,000 bond. So, of course, he returned to the tournament Saturday. He even wore a tie, which went nicely with the handcuffs. He was again arrested, a Metro-Dade Police Department spokeswoman said Saturday night.
Hingis laughed off the incident and joked about her boyfriend, Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Pavel Kubina, being a capable bodyguard. But she admitted to concern about Rajcevic following her home to Saddlebrook Resort in Wesley Chapel.
``This guy is obviously a little strange,'' Hingis said. ``I saw him before [this event]. He was in Zurich. He's maybe a little crazy. I don't know. He's like, in love with me. Actually, in the beginning I tried to tell him, `I've got a friend (Kubina), I'm happy. He just, I guess, likes the attention.''
Hingis said she wasn't worried during the Ericsson ``because they've got great security. When I'm going back home, I feel like at first that was on my mind, that he's going to be there. But no, [I'm not worried], as long as I got guys like Pavel around me.''
Safe at home, Hingis plans on taking several weeks off before going to Europe. But she'll take only several days off before hitting the clay courts at Saddlebrook. There's just one dilemma. She doesn't know if she'll practice on the more-populated green clay courts, or the authentic red clay Saddlebrook also has, located across the resort property, isolated from where most of the Harry Hopman Academy players train.
``I'm probably going to play on the green ones,'' Hingis said ``I don't want to be too lonely. I don't want to take too long [off] because I feel so good right now. I think things are going very well right now.''