Kournikova, now 0-2 in finals, threatened only once in the match, when she broke Hingis's service in the seventh game of the match for a 4-3 lead.

On the changeover, however, Hingis removed her white baseball cap as if to say it was time to get serious. And the 1997 Family Circle champion and owner of five Grand Slam singles titles did just that, winning the next six games en route to a 66-minute victory.

The turning point came in the ninth game of the match when Kournikova took a love-40 lead but then committed three errors in succession.

``That was a very important game when I was down love-40 at 4-4,'' Hingis said. ``Somehow I just said to myself try to hang in there and try to make the next two, three points and then she got a little bit shaky.''

The only other critical moment came with Kournikova serving at 30-40 in the sixth game of the second set when Hingis charged in and smashed a high forehand to the backhand corner for a 4-2 lead.

``That's why Martina is No. 1,'' said Kournikova. ``She knows how to play those tough points, and I tried to go for too much a little bit. I was pretty tired out there, so I tried to finish points quicker than I should have.''

Kournikova committed 30 unforced errors to just 13 for Hingis. Kournikova also had four double faults to none for Hingis.

As for taking off the hat, Hingis said: ``It wasn't that sunny, I suddenly realized. So I was like, okay, take it off. You might play better. Actually, it was funny because after that, it was like 4-4 and I won like six straight games.''

The victory gave Hingis her 23rd singles title. She won $150,000 to increase her WTA-leading earnings total for the year to $964,571. Kournikova, ranked 20th in the world and the tournament's seventh seed, earned $70,000.

Hingis improved to 6-1 all-time against Kournikova, her partner in winning this year's Australian Open doubles title.