| TOKYO (TICKER) -- Top seed Martina Hingis of Switzerland
advanced to her fourth straight final at the Pan Pacific Open with a 7-6
(7-2), 6-4 victory over seventh seed Chanda Rubin of the United States.
Sixth seed Sandrine Testud of France rallied past unseeded Katarina
Srebotnik of Slovenia, 3-6, 7-5, 6-1 in the other semifinal today.
The defending champion, Hingis needed to go to a tiebreaker in the first
set after Rubin saved three set points at 5-4. But the American dropped
her four times in a row in the tiebreaker.
In the second set, Hingis broke service in the seventh game en route
to her fourth straight victory over Rubin.
Coming off a loss to American Lindsay Davenport in the Australian Open
final, Hingis has looked impressive this week as she seeks her third title
here in four years. She won in 1997 and 1999 and lost to Davenport in the
final two years ago.
The 19-year-old from Switzerland looks her first title of the season
and the 27th of her career. She has reached the final in six of her last
seven tournaments, dating back to last season, but has just one title in
that span -- the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix at Filderstadt, Germany in October.
Testud is vying for her first title since 1998, when she won in Filderstadt.
However, she is 0-7 lifetime against Hingis.
First prize at this $1.08 million indoor event is $166,000.
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