 Second seed Safina held her nerve better in a tense final set |
Martina Hingis is tipping Dinara Safina for great things after losing to the Russian in the final of the Australian Women's Hardcourt Championship. Hingis, who was beaten 6-3 3-6 7-5, thinks Safina, 20, can even eclipse her elder brother, Marat, a Grand Slam winner and former world number one.
"Everyone should watch her because she's going to be maybe even better than her brother," said the Swiss star.
"She doesn't have as much touch but she has more will and desire."
Safina's win over Hingis gave her a fifth WTA singles title.
"Coming here I couldn't even imagine that I could win it, I had a pretty tough draw," she said. "I'm really happy with the way I played the whole tournament."
To round off the day in perfect fashion, Safina teamed up with Katarina Srebotnik to win the women's doubles, beating Iveta Benesova ad Galina Voskobeova 6-3 6-4.
Elsewhere, Serbia's Jelena Jankovic beat Russian Vera Zvonareva 7-6 (11-9) 5-7 6-3 to win the Auckland Classic.
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