Whatever shot Monica Seles hit, Martina Hingis replied deeper, harder and with a sharper angle.
And when Hingis completed her 72-minute tennis lesson Tuesday night in the wind-swept Arthur Ashe Stadium, the top seed had a 6-4, 6-4 victory over No. 6 Monica Seles and a spot in the semifinals of the U.S. Open."I just played very well, very concentrated," Hingis admitted. "I served very well and didn't make many mistakes."
Hingis next will play her doubles partner, No. 3 Jana Novotna, who advanced with a 6-2, 6-3 victory over No. 11 Patty Schnyder.
The other semifinal pairing was to be completed today when No. 2 Lindsay Davenport played No. 13 Amanda Coetzer and No. 4 Arant-xa Sanchez Vicario faced No. 5 Venus Williams.
On the men's side, Andre Agassi couldn't keep pace with ninth-seeded Karol Kucera, falling to the Slovak 6-3, 6-3, 6-7 (5-7), 1-6, 6-3 in a rain-delayed match that started Monday.
Three Swedes reached the men's quarterfinals to give America's premier tennis tournament a blue-and-yellow tinge. No. 12 Jonas Bjorkman defeated Dutchman Jan Siemerink 6-4, 2-6, 6-2, 6-2; Thomas Johansson upset No. 11 Yevgeny Kafelnikov of Russia 3-6, 6-3, 6-3, 7-6 (9-7), and Magnus Larsson eliminated Germany's Oliver Gross 6-4, 7-5, 5-7, 6-2.
In the other fourth-round matches, defending champion Patrick Rafter defeated No. 14 Goran Ivanisevic 6-3, 6-4, 4-6, 6-1; unseeded Mark Philippoussis upset No. 13 Tim Henman 7-5, 0-6, 6-4, 6-1 and No. 10 Carlos Moya downed No. 7 Alex Corretja 7-6 (7-4), 7-5, 6-3.
Seles was extremely sharp, especially considering the strong winds that played havoc with the ball. But Hingis was absolutely brilliant, answering nearly every Seles shot with a better one.
"I was a little worried going into the match because I wasn't playing my best and I lost two times to Monica before this," Hingis said. "I was playing well tonight, my serve was very good and I didn't make any mistakes. I was on a good wave."
Seles defeated Hingis in their two previous matches this year, including the French Open semifinals. But on Tuesday night, Hingis lost just seven points on her serve in the first set.