French Open fans all but carried Graf from the brink of defeat to her sixth and final title at Roland Garros on Saturday, while they treated Hingis like a national enemy.

``Amazing,'' Graf told the crowd after capturing her 22nd Grand Slam title with a 4-6, 7-5, 6-2 victory over the No. 1 Hingis. ``This is the most incredible memory I'm going to have looking back on my career.''

Moments later after celebrating with champagne, Graf declared that this French Open, her 16th, was also her last. No other player has graced the red clay more times in the open era, and only Chris Evert, with seven titles, had greater success.

``This is definitely the last time I played here, without a doubt,'' said Graf, who turns 30 on June 14. ``This memory should be the way it is. It's very special.''

It was, she said, the biggest, most unexpected victory of her career. She hadn't won a tournament all year, hadn't even reached a major final in three years. In recent years, she suffered enough injuries to fill a medical journal, endured more operations and rehabs than she cares to remember.

Now, Graf hinted, it's time to look toward the end.

``It is tournament by tournament, match by match,'' she said. One thing is certain, though. She's heading to Wimbledon to go for her eighth title on the Centre Court she loves so much.

Everything about this final truly was, as Graf said, amazing: fans roaring for her and booing Hingis mercilessly; Hingis flirting with default; Graf storming back when Hingis was serving in the second set, just three points from victory.

In desperation, Hingis even hit an underhand serve in the last game, winning a point but drawing louder boos.

Fans booed the 18-year-old Hingis off the court when the match ended, and resumed booing her when she returned for the trophy presentation, weeping uncontrollably in her mother's arms.

Hingis had earned the French fans' enmity with her cutting comments earlier this year about Frenchwoman Amelie Mauresmo's homosexuality. But the viciousness of the fans' boos this time went deeper. They jeered her because of her petulant behavior on court and because she was beating Graf, a longtime favorite.

``I was fighting not only against her, but the whole crowd, the referee, the line calls,'' Hingis said. ``I let myself provoke the crowd too much. I should have had more self-control. I learned. I'm still young.

``I learned enough just by standing there, having to go back to the ceremony, just smile at everybody. That's harder, going back out there against the crowd. If my mother wasn't there, I wouldn't have come back. She said, 'You have to go out there. You are a great champion.' I felt better after that.''

Hingis' sobs were reminiscent of Jana Novotna's after her collapse against Graf at Wimbledon in 1993. And though Hingis didn't choke in quite the same way, she had herself to blame for this loss.

Graf's first major title since the 1996 U.S. Open came in large part courtesy of Hingis' tempestuous behavior and loss of control. Giggling and smiling when things went her way early in the match, Hingis unraveled under all the pressure.

Hingis drew a mandatory warning from chair umpire Anne Lasserre for cracking her racket frame on the court after a disputed call in the fifth game of the opening set. Lasserre slapped her with a penalty point in the third game of the second set after a long tirade while complaining about another call on a relatively insignificant point.

Hingis knew that one more outburst would send her out in default, and she struggled to contain her temper. Shrieking and yelping at times, she still had the match in hand when she broke Graf with a crisp passing shot for a 5-4 lead in that second set.

All Hingis had to do was hold serve and she would complete a career Grand Slam, winning the one major that has eluded her. But she couldn't do it, and Graf wouldn't let her.

At 15-love, three points from the championship, Hingis screamed ``eek'' after whacking a backhand long. Graf then ripped a rare topspin backhand past her at the end of a long rally. Hingis leaned on the net, out of breath for the moment. A backhand wide on the next shot set up break point, and two points later Hingis dumped a drop shot into the net.

Hingis never recovered from that game, and Graf leaped on the opening she suddenly found.

Graf swept her service game at love for a 6-5 lead, then broke Hingis again at 15-40 when a backhand skimmed the net cord and Hingis rapped a forehand wide at set point.

``I should have won in two sets, and not believe I have a chance in the third,'' Hingis said. ``That was the problem. In a way, after losing the second set, I mentally broke. And physically, I couldn't keep up anymore.''

When Graf served the only ace of the match in taking a 1-0 lead in the third set, Hingis tried to halt her momentum by leaving the court to change her blouse.

But the tactic backfired as the crowd took the opportunity do the wave, then chanted ``Steff-ee, Steff-ee,'' until Hingis returned. Graf, usually so serious that she rarely smiles, savored the moment, looking around the stadium, laughing and waving to the fans.

Sitting in the crowd, too, were Graf's parents, though the divorced couple sat several rows apart.

``I felt French,'' Graf said. ``I've been around the world, but I've not had a crowd like that before.''

When Hingis reappeared from the dressing room, the crowd booed her lustily.

Hingis responded by making four straight unforced errors to lose her serve at love, then Graf made it six consecutive games for a 3-0 lead when she held with the help of a forehand at the end of a thrilling all-court rally.

Graf suffered a lapse to put the set back on serve, but then broke Hingis again to 4-2 for a lead she wouldn't relinquish. Seeking to stay in the match at 5-2, Hingis tried to sneak in the underhand serve. That's when she drew more boos from fans who thought it unsportsmanlike.

``I had no other chance, so I just used anything I could use,'' she said. ``Then I tried to go the other way, but it didn't work.''

Neither did anything else. Graf set up her second match point with a backhand drop that Hingis couldn't reach, then secured the championship when Hingis slapped a forehand long.

``That was one of the craziest matches ever,'' Graf said. ``It had everything. I don't know what else can happen. A lot of circumstances made it very bizarre at times.''