TENNIS: Davenport joins Hingis in final

TENNIS:

Davenport joins Hingis in final

The defending champion, Martina Hingis, reached the final of the Chase Championships at Madison Square Garden, last night by defeating Venus Williams 6-4 7-6, writes Ronald Atkin. Victory at the season's-end big event was especially sweet for the Swiss 19-year-old, who had lost her last two encounters with the hard-hitting American. After Hingis had won the opening set and broken serve at the start of the second, Williams called for the trainer and was treated for neck problems. Although she subsequently struggled on serve, she did manage to break back and take the second set to a tiebreak. At that point, however, her accuracy deserted her completely and a seventh double-fault contributed to losing the tiebreak 7-2. World No 2, Lindsay Davenport, set up a repeat of last year's final when she defeated France's Nathalie Tauziat 7-6 6- 0.