| MANHATTAN BEACH, Calif. (AP) -- Martina Hingis, the top-ranked player in the world, and two-time defending champion Serena Williams were both pushed Tuesday in second-round matches of the $565,000 estyle.com Classic.
Hingis beat Lilia Osterloh, ranked 48th in the world by the WTA, 6-2, 7-5 at the Manhattan Beach Country Club, while Williams, appearing rusty in her first match since Wimbledon, beat 69th-ranked Jennifer Hopkins 7-5, 6-3.
In other matches Tuesday, sixth-seeded Monica Seles beat Marissa Irvin, 6-3, 6-2; fifth-seeded Nathalie Tauziat beat Tamarine Tanasugarn 6-3, 7-6 (1) and lucky loser Wynne Prakusya beat Rita Grande 7-6 (4), 6-2. Prakusya replaced the injured Anna Kournikova in the main draw.
Osterloh was serving to win the second set, but Hingis rallied to win the last three games of the match, going for the lines with side-to-side winners.
Hingis beat Osterloh 6-1, 6-4 last week in the second round of the Acura Classic.
``We have a little respect for each other,'' Hingis said. ``I was more concentrated in the first set, then we kept breaking each other. We got new balls at 5-4. Then she started missing a few. It was a good match. I really wanted it.''
Hingis is spending her 200th week as the world's No. 1 player, a ranking she first achieved in March 1997.
``It's another milestone. There are only four others who have done that. As long as I'm 1,000 points ahead, I'm fine,'' Hingis said referring to her 5,577-4,519 lead over No. 2 Jennifer Capriati.
Williams hadn't played since losing to Capriati in the quarterfinals at Wimbledon in July.
Williams, who defeated Lindsay Davenport in last year's finals and beat Julie Halard-Decugis for the 1999 title, grew up in Compton, a 15-minute ride from the tournament site.
``I think maybe I was too excited and nervous at the beginning, because I was playing in front of my hometown,'' she said. ``I didn't attack, and I didn't move very good. I was hitting every ball to her. I've been working really, really hard. It feels good to be out there. She's a good player. I won here the last two years, and I'd like to keep it up. It's important to work toward the U. S. Open.''
Williams was the 1999 Open champion.
Seles used her two-handed ground strokes to outplay Irvin, a former college star who led Stanford to a national championship in 1999 and last year before turning pro after her sophomore season in June 2000.
``I was worried about coming out flat after I had such good results the last two weeks, but I started well,'' Seles said. ``She's a tough player I've never played before.'' | 