Former world number one Martina Hingis kept up
her run of finals by beating Silvia Farina Elia in
the semi-finals of the Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo.
<br><br>Hingis has now reached three conseuctuve tournament
finals and has also made it to the Tokyo event final six
years running. <br><br>In the final Hingis will take on
another former world number one Monica Seles, who
defeated Anna Kournikova 6-3 3-6 6-3. <br><br>Although
Hingis had to save one break point in the opening game,
she got off to a flying start taking the first six
games in a row on her way to a 6-0 6-4 victory in the
semi-finals. <br><br>"I've been working on it (her game) for
three months, so it's nice it's paying off," said
Hingis, who came back into action to win at Sydney after
a three-month layoff for ankle surgery in October
and losing her number one ranking. <br><br>Farina
Elia, ranked 15th against Hingis' fourth this week,
played more aggressively in the second set, often
hitting a lightning service return winner and charging to
the net to threat Hingis. <br><br>The veteran Italian
29-year-old went one service break up twice in the second set
to lead 1-0 and then 4-3, but that was all she could
do against the in-form Hingis, three-time champion
in Tokyo in 1997, 1999 and 2000. <br><br>Hingis gave
Farina Elia only three more points in the remaining
three games and completed the 60-minute match with a
forehand winner to break to love in the 10th game.
<br><br>"There were two or three points that just didn't go my
way," said Hingis. <br><br>"It was like a wrong line
call. So she got a little bit more lucky. But I broke
her right after that and I was just able to close it
down.