| TOKYO (AP) - Martina Hingis regained the world's top singles ranking Saturday
as she beat Jana Novotna of the Czech Republic 6-3, 6-4 in the semifinals
of the Toray Pan Pacific Open women's tennis tournament.
WTA, the world's governing body for the women's professional tennis
tour, is scheduled to release a weekly ranking Monday.
The Swiss teenager has been ranked second to Lindsay Davenport of the
United States since last Oct. 12. Hingis recently won the Australian Open.
Hingis first climbed to the No. 1 rank March 31, 1997, surging ahead
of Steffi Graf of Germany.
Davenport, a semifinalist in the Australian Open last week, was eliminated
in the quarterfinals Friday by Amanda Coetzer of
South Africa.
In the final Sunday, Hingis meets the winner in the other semifinal
match Saturday between American Monica Seles and
Coetzer.
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