THIS WEEK: For the second year running, the SRI Rankings computer tipped a breakthrough win for a woman with an outside chance according to the bookies. For the second year running, she came through. It seems a lot longer than a year since Lindsay Davenport won her first Grand Slam tournament, knowing how good she has been since then. Perhaps in a year we will look back at Serena Williams's U.S. Open title as only the first milestone in an awesome career. She is by far the best hardcourt player now on the WTA Tour.

Both Davenport and Hingis appeared to underestimate Serena in their matches. Too often, they were content to play the safer alternative down middle of the court and wait for Serena to make the mistakes. Unfortunately for them, she hit winners more often than not, with some breathtaking strokes. The next year should be enthralling, as other players try to counter the strength and aggression of the Williams sisters, perhaps by taking more chances themselves.

The semi-final matches were both classics, but the last few games of the final were women's tennis at its best. Hingis was 3-5 and 15-40 when she scrambled back into the match. She then broke Williams to love, and won her own serve easily. The cool stares across the court by Hingis were fascinating to watch. IMHO, Hingis was attempting to dominate Serena mentally as soon as she won a few games on end - it would have worked against a lesser player. Hingis is a champion player who knows how to win. The confidence is part of that. On the day, she just didn't quite have enough.

The WTA rankings below are now a fortnight old, and Steffi Graf has been dropped from both computers. Serena marches up to third, just five points behind Davenport. The biggest loser was Novotna, who tumbles from 8 to 16.

SRI Rankings Top 50 Issue #W82. 12th Sep 1999
Rank	Name	Rating Points	Rank Change	WTA Rank
1	Martina Hingis	1829	0	1
2	Lindsay Davenport	1746	0	2
3	Serena Williams	1741	+2	6
4	Venus Williams	1685	0	3
5	Monica Seles	1512	+1	4
6	Mary Pierce	1345	+1	5
7	Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario	1178	+2	8
8	Anna Kournikova	1151	+4	14
9	Barbara Schett	1151	+2	12
10	Sandrine Testud	1143	0	13
11	Chanda Rubin	1123	+2	21
12	Amelie Mauresmo	1115	+2	16
13	Nathalie Tauziat	1104	+2	9
14	Conchita Martinez	1089	+2	17
15	Amy Frazier	1077	+3	24
16	Jana Novotna	1074	-8	10
17	Dominique van Roost	1064	0	15
18	Julie Halard-Decugis	1058	+1	11
19	Mary Joe Fernandez	1026	+5	38
20	Jennifer Capriati	1023	+3	40
21	Elena Likhovtseva	1009	+1	19
22	Amanda Coetzer	1007	-2	7
23	Anke Huber	1000	+5	27
24	Patty Schnyder	941	-3	18
25	Ruxandra Dragomir	930	+1	23
26	Irina Spirlea	928	+3	20
27	Natasha Zvereva	923	+3	22
28	Lisa Raymond	916	-1	29
29	Silvia Farina	915	+2	26
30	Jelena Dokic	914	-5	37
31	Silvija Talaja	901	+1	33
32	Ai Sugiyama	872	+1	28
33	Karina Habsudova	871	+1	44
34	Nathalie Dechy	849	+1	25
35	Henrieta Nagyova	846	+1	32
36	Fabiola Zuluaga	833	+2	47
37	Ines Gorrochategui	831	0	57
38	Anne-Gaelle Sidot	814	+1	35
39	Tamarine Tanasugarn	795	+7	66
40	Maria A. Sanchez Lorenzo	784	+4	39
41	Corina Morariu	784	0	36
42	Magui Serna	783	+7	42
43	Cristina Torrens Valero	773	0	52
44	Gala Leon Garcia	772	-4	45
45	Angeles Montolio	753	+3	64
46	Brie Rippner	752	-4	60
47	Anne Kremer	751	0	31
48	Sabine Appelmans	751	+2	58
49	Cara Black	747	+3	55
50	Sandra Nacuk	747	+6	90
NQ	Steffi Graf	(1755)	(3)	(ret)
51	Sylvia Plischke	740	0	30
52	Mariaan de Swardt	729	+6	76
53	Mirjana Lucic	727	-8	41
54	Anastasia Myskina	715	NQ	110
58	Sarah Pitkowski	711	-5	34
76	Asa Carlsson	624	+18	113

Rating Winners: (All results at U.S. Open)
Serena Williams	+112	(W 99, 3R 98)
Mary Joe Fernandez	+84	(4R 99, 3R 98)
Anke Huber	+75	(QF 99, 1R 98)
Monica Seles	+68	(QF 99, QF 98)
Asa Carlsson	+64	(2R+Q 99, 2R 98)
Jennifer Capriati	+58	(4R 99, 1R 98)
Mary Pierce	+58	(QF 99, 4R 98)

Rating Losers:
Jana Novotna	-100	(SF 98, 3R 99)
Patty Schnyder	-49	(QF 98, 3R 99)
Mirjana Lucic	-49	(3R 98, 2R 99)
Brie Rippner	-34	(2R def Frazier 98, 1R 99)
Jelena Dokic	-22	(1R 99)

[ wo - walkover, wd - withdrew, ret - retired, def - defeated ]

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