VILLANOVA, Pa. -- An aching left wrist couldn't stop Lindsay Davenport from winning the Advanta Championship.
Coming off a dominating performance against Venus Williams in the semifinals, the second-seeded Davenport used her powerful serve and strong baseline play to defeat top-seeded Martina Hingis 6-3, 6-4 and win the Advanta title Sunday.It was Davenport's first Advanta win after losing in the finals the past two years, to Hingis in 1997 and Steffi Graf in 1998.
"Losing in the final before, I would sit there shaking my head as the money was handed out," Davenport said after collecting the $80,000 winner's check. "I'm so excited I've finally won."
Davenport played with a sore left wrist she hurt in October. While she didn't term the injury serious, it was enough to keep Davenport out of the doubles semifinal Saturday night in order to rest up for Hingis and the season-ending Chase Championships this week in New York.
"About the time I got hurt, I didn't know if I would play the rest of the year," Davenport said. "I wasn't going to quit but I thought it would be great to take six years off."
She's glad she didn't. She combined seven aces, six in the second set, with big baseline drives to frustrate Hingis' serve-and-volley game.
"I had a few chances, but she would always get herself out of trouble," Hingis said. "Sometimes you can't make any mistakes in a match like today."
Davenport's last four points came on unforced errors by the top-seeded Hingis, including match point, when Hingis returned a serve into the net.
It was only the second meeting of the year between Hingis, ranked first in the world, and Davenport, ranked second. Davenport also defeated Hingis 6-4, 6-3 at the Adidas International final at Sydney in January.
"Next week at Chase, maybe we'll be in the final again," Hingis said.
Down 5-4 in the second set, Hingis fended off one match point after serving an ace past a frozen Davenport.
Hingis then threatened to tie the set after ending a long rally with a soft drop shot, but failed to capitalize after another unforced error.
Two match points later, Hingis' failed service return gave Davenport her sixth singles title this season.
Davenport also earned a $3,000 bonus for getting to the Advanta finals three straight years.