Tennis: Hingis eases past Venus

Martina Hingis, the Australian Open and Wimbledon champion, brushed aside the American Venus Williams 6-2, 6-1 in 50 minutes in the second round of the Toshiba Classic in Carlsbad, Calfornia, to take her match record for 1997 to 51 wins against one defeat. Hingis, who received a first-round bye, had just won her eighth title of the year following her victory on Sunday in Palo Alto.

Williams, long touted as a potential No 1, looked far from being a serious rival to Hingis, who reeled off 10 of the last 11 games to move into the quarter-finals. "I played very good match today," Hingis, the top seed whose lone loss this year came in the French Open final, said. "I played the way I wanted to play and did a pretty good job."

Williams was often her own worst enemy, committing 19 of her 25 unforced errors in the opening set. "She's patient and waits for you to make an error or rush yourself," Williams said.

Monica Seles, the No 2 seed, staggered toward a possible meeting with Hingis in the final by surviving a sloppy match with Ai Sugiyama of Japan 6-4, 6-4.