History is repeating itself in Melbourne, with Jennifer Capriati and Martina Hingis set to clash in the final of the Australian Open.
It will be a replay of last year's final. The top seed and defending champion, Jennifer Capriati will meet Martina Hingis on Saturday for the first grand slam title of the year. In bright sunshine, Capriati defeated the French Open finalist, Kim Clijsters 7-5, 3-6, 6-1, in the semifinal. She's expecting a tough fight from Hingis. "For the first time I go on up against her she is the underdog and I'm the one favored to win just because I won it last year," Jennifer said. "I know she wants it badly, but I want it badly too."
Hingis defeated Monica Seles to book her sixth straight appearance in the Australian Open final. She last won a Grand Slam in 1999. She's determined to break the drought. "You always question it, if you are capable of winning another Grand Slam if you haven't done it for three years and you did it before," Martina said. "But when I was 16/17 people always questioned it so I mean its time to put the past behind and I was able to do it once so there is no reason not to do it again."
Sweden's Thomas Johansson will play for his first Grand Slam crown on Sunday after defeating Jiri Novak from the Czech Republic in five sets. He'll play the winner of Friday's Tommy Haas, Marat Safin semifinal.