Hingis survives Serena scare

Hingis celebrates her win over Serena Williams Keystone

Martina Hingis has reached the semi-finals of the Australian Open after winning a dramatic quarter-final encounter with America's Serena Williams.

After winning the first set and losing the second, Hingis found herself trailing 4-1 in the deciding third set. But with Williams serving for the match at 5-4, the world number one fought back.

Breaking Williams’ serve to level the score at 5-5, Hingis then broke again in the set’s 14th game, converting her second match point with an overhead smash.

The 6-2, 3-6, 8-6 victory lasted two hours and 19 minutes. After the match Hingis admitted that she had found the going tough.

“I was just trying to hang in there,” said the Swiss star. “It was a great effort by both of us, and I was lucky.”

To make it into the tournament’s final for a fifth consecutive year, Hingis must now do what only two players have managed before – beat both Williams sisters at the same event.

Serena’s elder sister Venus booked her semi-final berth against Hingis on Wednesday after staging a comeback of her own against South Africa’s Amanda Coetzer. Like Hingis, Venus needed to win an extended final set before completing a 2-6, 6-1, 8-6 victory.

The second women’s semi-final is set to be an all-American affair with Lindsay Davenport taking on Jennifer Capriati.

swissinfo with agencies