Melbourne, Australia — Jennifer Capriati fought off four match points in the second set and beat Martina Hingis 4-6, 7-6 (7), 6-2 Saturday to win her second consecutive Australian Open title.
The top-seeded Capriati fell behind 0-4 in the second set and cursed at the chair umpire. But Capriati then staved off three match points at 3-5 and 5-6 to force a tiebreaker.
She survived one more at 6-7 in the tiebreaker and finally took the set when Hingis hit a backhand wide. Hingis threw her racket after letting Capriati back into the match.
Capriati breezed in the final set. At the end, she dropped her racket, ran over to touch hands with her father, Stefano, blew kisses, and walked back on court, shaking her head in apparent disbelief.
The 2-hour, 10-minute struggle contrasted with last year's final, when Capriati beat Hingis 6-4, 6-3.
This time, Hingis took big leads in the first two sets before weakening in the third. It was her third consecutive loss in an Australian Open final, and her fifth in a major final since her last Grand Slam event triumph, at the 1999 Australian Open.
In 95-degree heat, Capriati at one point took refuge in a tunnel entry and Hingis put an ice pack on her neck between points in the second-set tiebreaker. The players were allowed a 10-minute break after the second set.
Capriati came back from 1-5 to 4-5 in the first, set but then lost her serve.
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